Leadership Theories: Trait, Behavioral, and Contingency Approaches

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of various leadership theories, examining the evolution of leadership thought from trait-based approaches to behavioral and contingency models. It delves into the core concepts of trait theory, highlighting physical, personality, and intellectual characteristics associated with leadership. The essay then explores behavioral theories, discussing the Iowa, Ohio State, and Michigan studies and their contributions to understanding effective leadership behaviors. Furthermore, it analyzes contingency theories, including Fiedler's contingency model, which emphasizes the importance of situational factors. Finally, the essay examines transformational leadership theory, highlighting its focus on inspiring and motivating followers. The essay references several key researchers and their contributions, offering a robust understanding of different leadership styles and models, and concluding with the importance of flexibility, honesty, and transparency for successful leadership.

THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP
Running Head: THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP 0

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Theory of leadership........................................................................................................................2
Trait theory of leadership.................................................................................................................3
Behavioral theories..........................................................................................................................4
Contingency theories.......................................................................................................................6
Transformational leadership theory.................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Motivating and influencing people is the art of leaders to perform in a manner to
accomplish a common goal. The leadership is constituted by the total of a leader's tasks, roles,
responsibilities, and interpersonal influences (Yukl, 2010). The leader should possess the high
character and integrity, means of rightly doing, concerned with doing the right things with ends,
and with the general capacity of solving the problem. The success of a team is crucial for a
leader. Many research has been conducted and a substantial amount of research has been done to
find how a leader become effective (Hersey, 2016). This is the process that executes guide,
direct, and affects the work and conduct of others for achieving the particular goals. This is the
aptitude of a leader to subordinate the work with confidence (Bass, 2015). The behaviors of
others are the potential to influence leadership. Keith Davis refers that “Leadership is the ability
to persuade others to seek defined objectives enthusiastically. It is the factor of human that binds
a group together and motivates towards goals.” Leadership theories with appraising current
exploration on the applicability and evolution for theories of leadership have been covered under
the following theories.
Leadership theories
Theories of leadership are categorized by aspects that believed to define the leader.
Theories of the leadership evaluate the effectiveness of leaders to convince partners, lenders,
employees, vendors, and customers to follow the pursuit of a vision. Theories of leadership help
leaders to approach the style of leadership. Leaders are essential for the development of visions
of the future and to motivate the members of the organization to achieve the missions and
visions. Effective leaders have to communicate with people and work ceaselessly to motivate
people in an efficient manner. An attention of leadership psychology has improved over the last

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year. Many theories of leadership have been introduced to clarify how person become great
leaders (Lewin, Lippit, & White, 2019). Theories of leadership emphasize the behaviors and
traits that individuals accept to boost the abilities of leadership.
Trait theory
Leadership studies in the 1940s focused on the determination of the traits of a leader.
This was the first systematic theory for researchers and psychologists to understand the concept
of leadership. According to this theory, leaders have inborn traits of personality. This theory was
in the context of the “great man” theory that really dates back to the ancient of Greek and
Romans. Mental, physical, and personality traits identified by many researchers. The relevance
of this theory has been loosed by the increase of the Behaviorist University of Psychology (Fred
& Bruce, 2018). Ralph M. Stogdill in the survey of leadership research and theories have
connected to particular characters to the ability of leadership. There are five physical traits (like
energy, height, and, appearance); four intelligence and characters; sixteen personality characters
(like enthusiasm, adaptability, aggressiveness, and self-confidence); six characteristics of task-
related (like drive, persistence, achievement, and initiative), and nine social features (like
cooperativeness, administrative ability and interpersonal skills).
Many researcher have identify the subsequent key leadership: inspiration of leadership
(Not starving for command but have a desire to lead), drive (including energy, attainment,
tenacity, initiative, and desire), integrity and rectitude, self-assurance (including stability of
emotions), an understanding of the business and cognitive ability. This has not been a very
successful leadership in terms of traits for clarifying leadership. All the leaders do not hold the
mentioned traits in trait theory of leadership, whereas non-leaders retain most of them. This trait
of method does not give an estimation of a person should own. Many of the studies did not agree

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that traits are management traits, or related to the behavior of leadership. These are the pattern of
real behavior.
Behavioral theories
It is obvious that leaders at an effective level did not appear to have a specific set of
distinctive traits, aspects of effective leaders with the behavioral aspects have been studied by the
researcher. In other words, effective leaders determine the delegate tasks to motivate and
communicate the employees or followers to carry out their tasks. In this theory many efforts
identified in the behaviors of leadership (Liden, 2014). This research grew at the University of
Michigan, the Ohio State University, and the University of Iowas. This theory covers Likert’s
four schemes of the management grid and management.
 Michigan and Iowa studies
Effective leader behaviors have been scientifically determining by the researcher Kurt
Lewin at the University of Iowa. They focused on three styles of leadership. The autocratic
leader makes a decision without involving methods of work, spell out subordinates, and
sometimes gives feedback at a negative level. The participative or democratic leader includes the
groups for making a decision. He includes that group determines the methods of work, make
overall goals, and provide help to subordinate for feedback. Leaders of Laissez-faire practice
their command very rarely. They provide ample freedom. For own goals, these depend on the
subordinates. These leaders avoid the system of feedback.
 Ohio state studies
A researcher group in 1945 at Ohio University investigated the leadership style. This
group initiated the process of identifying the behaviors of leadership. These measured the

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behaviors of leadership and track factors like the performance of group and satisfaction for most
effective behaviors. This was the credentials of two scopes of leadership behaviors:
‘consideraion and initiating structure’. This group measured the job centered method and
employee-centered method. The approach for two dimensions led to the probability at an
interesting level that a leader place on people-related issues, and emphasis on both tasks. They
produced the satisfaction of subordinates at a high level with the expected specific result and
focus on issues.
 Likert's Four managent system
This has been identified in the University of Michigan by Professor Rensis Likert and his
associates. They established assured approaches and ideas for considerate the behavior of
leadership. These strongly focused on to rely and subordinates on the message of a great level to
retain all the characters and department employed in unison.
 System 1
This is also known as the style of "exploitive-authoritative." This presents that all the
decisions made by management involving little participation of employee.
 System 2
This is also known as the style of "benevolent-authoritative." According to this style,
managers are condescending and have trust and confidence in dependents. They permit message
at an upward level to communicate a certain degree and provide subordinates a time.
 System 3

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This is also known as the style of "consultative." In this scheme, managers do not have
trust and confidence in dependents.
 System 4
This is also called as a style of ‘participative leadership.’ In this system, managers trust in
their assistants and have complete confidence in their subordinates with their capabilities.
Managers like to take opinions from their subordinates.
Contingency theories
The use of behavioral and trait methods to leadership present that effective leaders
depend on variables like the culture of an organization and the tasks nature. Studies at large
number have been identified by the premise for strongly affect the situations that a leader
emerges to operate (Northhouse, 2013). These constitute the approach of contingency to
leadership. This theory focuses on factors such as requirements of a task, organizational policies
and culture, Peer's behavior and expectations. According to these theories, there are four famous
situational theories of leadership (Northhouse, 2013).
 Fiedler’s contingency approach
This approach provides a point of start to situational leadership exploration. Fiedler and his
associates in the University of Illinois suggested that persons become frontrunners by their
attributes of personality with many situational features and with the collaboration of followers
and leaders. There were three critical dimensions decide the actual style of leadership. Control of
position, the structure of the task, and leader-member relations.
Fielder identified two main styles of leadership such as task-oriented, and employee-centered
to measure the styles of leadership that innovate technique of testing (Sendjaya & Sarros, 2012).

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The findings of a fielder's based on two sources such as least favored co-worker scale and
anticipated similarity between opposite scale. In a favorable condition, the leader has substantial
power of position to define the structure of a task and to exist leader-member relations (Sendjaya
& Sarros, 2012).
Transformational leadership theory
It is up to the leaders to do the factual things and innovate them. Leaders carry many
changes to motivate followers with extraordinary efforts at an effective level. In the discussion of
leadership Max Weber, the German sociologist presented the idea of charisma. The theological
concept divine the grace of possessing. This gave a great inspiration over the followers. These
are attracted to the leader’s oratory skills, magnetic character, and ability at an exceptional level
to respond to crises (Avolio, 2015). A pioneer in the leadership, James Macgregor Burns
evaluate the concept of ‘hero’. This leadership is displayed by the leaders that transformed and
inspired followers. Expert of leadership Bernard M. Bass extended the view of Burns to
characterizing a leader at a transformational level. This kind of leader motivates persons to
accomplish beyond usual prospects. These inspired leaders to focus on the mission that
transcends their self-interest to essence on intrinsic goals at a higher level (Avolio, 2015).
According to Bernard M. Bass, following attributes possess by a transformational leader:
Individualized consideration, Charismatic leadership, and intellectual stimulation (Cubero,
2017). This provided the Bass and Burns to suggest leaders transform, stimulate, and custom the
beliefs, standards, and need of their supporters for tasks accomplishment Transformational
leaders change the situation. This approach typically focuses on transactional leadership
(Cubero, 2017). Leaders depicted more intellectually and charismatic. This is an additional form

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of management with an effective presentation. These leaders have the skills to successfully
manage the events to form the basis of a broader mission. Interpretation reassembled for the trait
approach to theories of leadership (Klenk, 2011). These style of leadership consist of divine
grace, the power to influence, attraction, to examine traits such as physical attributes, self-
confidence, and determination of process (Klenk, 2011).
Conclusion
A leader is a person that influence other persons to complete their goals. The leader
accepts the challenges to remove the hurdle of subordinates that had a different style for different
situations. For an organization, leaders are a role model. By the help of the feedback of group
members leaders obstacles the environment of the organization. Many theories on leadership
always variables and must be considered. This attempt to identify the tactics and skills of
different leaders. Characteristic of different leaders have been identified for experience the
formulas that generate a great leader. Situations are different and leaders learn the system of
flexibility with the great analytical skill and role for the success of the organization. This theory
relates that leaders should be honest, self-aware, and transparent. For innovative, inspire and
produce creativity for the organization. Above theories focus on trust building by a mutually
beneficial relationship between followers and leaders. These show a progression from the trait
theories for new leadership theories including transaction and transformational theories. The
research presents that theories have weakness and strength with their relations to leadership.

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References
Avolio, B. (2015). Leadership Development. Leadership, 14(01), 315-338.
Bass, B. M. (2015). Leadership and Performance. New York: Free Press.
Cubero, C. G. (2017). Leadership. Journal of Economics Management, 29(04), 320-359.
Fred, O., & Bruce, J. (2018). Development and Base of a Theory. Journal of Management,
08(02), 153-170.
Hersey, P. (2016). The Situational Leader. New York: Harper and Row.
Klenk, K. (2011). Authentic Leaders. Iranian Journal, 96(04), 14-20.
Lewin, K., Lippit, R., & White, R. K. (2019). Climate of Leadership. Journal of Social, 59(3),
271-301.
Liden, R. C. (2014). Culture of Leadership. Academy of Management Journal, 54(06), 1434-
1452.
Northhouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, 85(05), 89.
Sendjaya, S., & Sarros, J. C. (2012). Leadership. Journal of Leadership and Organizational
Studies, 09(02), 64-81.
Yukl, G. (2010). Leadership In Organization. New York: Free Press.

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