A Critical Evaluation of Leadership Theories & Lewin's Change Model

This essay critically evaluates the assertion that "true leaders are born" by examining trait theory and the nature versus nurture argument, concluding that leadership is primarily developed through experience and acquired traits. It further analyzes Lewin's 3-phase model of change (unfreeze, change, refreeze), highlighting its strengths, such as simplicity and stakeholder focus, and weaknesses, including rigidity and lack of comprehensive analysis. The essay also discusses potential problems managers may face when implementing Lewin's model, such as employee training and maintaining morale during the refreezing phase. Desklib offers a platform for students to access this essay and many other solved assignments for their academic needs.

Mock questions

Contents
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
Question Number A.....................................................................................................................1
Question Number B.....................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

MAIN BODY
Question Number A
“True leaders are born” Critically evaluate this theory using the trait and nature and
nurture argument.
Answer number A: According to latest researches conducted in the field of leadership, it has
been found out that leadership can be attributed to 30% genetics and 70% being acquired
learning from one’s environment and experiences throughout life. This statement offers quite a
striking contrast with the statement that ‘true leaders are born’ as if that were the case, the result
would budge quite heavily in favour of genetics. Over the past few decades, the debate has raged
among experts that whether or not leaders are born with qualities that make them excel in their
respective fields or it is something that one learns over the course of their life (Sweeney, 2021).
There are many theories which have been used to better explain and take sides in this debate
even to this day and one of the most popular ones involves the trait theory of leadership. This
theory states that leaders are not born but are made with the help of various mental, physical and
social characteristics and this goes against the great man theory of leadership which states the
exact opposite. The theory lists many important traits which are required of leaders which one is
not born with such as empathy, futuristic vision and ambitious mind-set which goes against the
notion of leaders being born. There are many positives and negatives to this theory which are
listed herein and helps better understand the nature of leadership.
Positives
 This theory helps understand the various social factors which shape up leadership such as
one’s quality of education, childhood and upbringing and skills such as teamwork and
empathy.
 Trait theory has also helped advance the field of leadership as a separate branch of
management by highlight the tremendous amount of skills needed by modern day leaders
which they cannot possibly be born with (Stamopoulos and Barblett, 2020).
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Negatives
 Despite listing the traits which make leaders effective after their successful acquirement,
the theory provides no definite metric for their measurement
 There has been no serious study conducted on the impact that separate degree of the same
trait has on leader behaviour making the theory incomplete in broader context
The theory of ‘true leaders are born’ can also be evaluated using the nature vs nurture
argument in which the term nature states that the genetics determines the behaviour and the
nature of the individual or a group of people. The various personality traits and the abilities to
perform and to function is also effected by the nature of the person. The behaviour is determined
by the inherited value, characteristics and other genetically structure. Whereas, the term Nurture
is defined as the upbringing in our environment and various other life experiences that
determines the behaviour and patterns of an individual that show they are nurtured to behave in a
certain way. These arguments are quite different from each other as different individuals have
different perspectives towards the things and other structures based on this debate. These topics
can be linked to the leaders in many ways, as the leaders are also the people who are encouraged
and motivated in such a way so that their present skills and other qualities are modified so as to
be the stand out among the rest of the other people. They are not charismatic by nature and many
leaders acquire traits that help them exceed later in life.
On the basis of the critical evaluation of the theory of true leaders being born using the trait
theory and nature vs nurture argument, it is clear that true leaders are mostly made through their
own hardships, learning experiences and acquired traits rather than innate qualities they are born
with. For example, traits such as empathy and emotional stability are required for leaders to
handle modern business problems which people are seldom born with.
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Question Number B
Critically evaluate Lewin’s 3 phase’s model of change. What problems and limitations
could this model present when managers try to implement it?
Answer number B: Lewin's 3 phase’s model is a framework to humanize the change in
management process. It is related to the three distinguished changes such as unfreeze, change
and refreeze, this process allows the company to make better plans and implement the required
changes.
There are three major components of this model which are explained herein with the help of
examples.
 Unfreeze- This the first stage in this model it deals with the perception of the
management and goal which supports to maintain the affected stakeholder for the
upcoming organisation changes. For example in order to make people attend a meeting,
one must first seek to properly schedule the meeting during times where employees are
not busy with their families.
 Change – This stage involves a thorough communication with the affected stakeholders
in order to start bringing in the change. Talking to the employees regarding the timings
they would like the meetings to be held on and holding the meeting are examples of this
phase
 Refreeze- This stage involves element of monitoring the change and analysing its effects
and undertaking activities for the smooth administration of the brought change.
Rewarding the employees who regularly attend the newly scheduled meetings are
examples of this phase
In order to better understand this model, it has been critically evaluated down below in terms of
its positives and negatives.
Positives
 One of the most important positive associated with this model is the fact that it is the
simplest model to understand out there and is very easy to implement compared to other
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models of change management such as Mckinsey’s 7S model. This is also evident by the
fact that even entry level managers can practice this concept (Galli, 2019).
 Another important advantage of this model is its pro stakeholder approach as by freezing
the work floor and taking into account the environment effects of the change before it is
implemented helps fight potential resistance to changes if any.
 The model helps analyse the way in which people react to change by studying
psychological factors and metrics during its various phases.
 This model does not require implementation of complex equipment’s and digital systems
which makes it friendly to new businesses.
Negatives
 Changes are quite complex and need to be studied very carefully before their overall
implementation and this model is not comprehensive enough to analyse all types of
changes, especially the major ones.
 Many scholars have gone on record and said that this model given by Lewin is very rigid
and does not offer enough flexible opportunities to be properly applicable in modern
times.
 The breaking of equilibrium during the phase of unfreezing can be quite detrimental to
the working of the company and even result in faulty operations
 The model does not take into account the way employees feel post change in the
refreezing process as things take a lot of time to settle down after a change gets proposed
There are many problems which managers can potentially face while implementation this model
in their respective companies which are also listed herein.
 One of the major problems which managers might encounter in implementing this model
in their companies will be related to training the employees to increase their adaptability
towards change. The model does not have any phase which can help in this aspect.
 Another issue that managers might face is that this model’s phases disturbs flow of the
work and employees often feel dejected during the refreeze phase which the model does
not have any stated provision for. This issue is very critical as employee morale must be
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kept high to ensure business success and must be prioritized at all costs (Weyant, Wallace
and Woodward, 2021).
REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Sweeney, T.J., 2021. Leadership for the counseling profession. In Professional counseling
excellence through leadership and advocacy (pp. 3-21). Routledge.
Stamopoulos, E. and Barblett, L., 2020. Early childhood leadership in action: Evidence-based
approaches for effective practice. Routledge.
Galli, B.J., 2019. Comparison of change management models: similarities, differences, and
which is most effective?. In R&D Management in the Knowledge Era (pp. 605-624).
Springer, Cham.
Weyant, E.C., Wallace, R.L. and Woodward, N.J., 2021. Suggestions for improving morale, part
2: Review of existing literature on librarian and library staff morale. Journal of Library
Administration, 61(8), pp.996-1007.
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