Earlier leadership was considered as a quality associated mostly with the males, and therefore the theory was named as the great man theory. The mythology behind some of the worlds most famous leaders such as abraham lincoln, julius caesar, mahatma gandhi, and alexander the great helped contribute to the notion that great leaders are born and not made. Dec 17, 2020 the advantages and disadvantages of behavioral theories of leadership. The great man theory of leadership became popular during the 19th century. Leadership in management and the great man theory essay. With this theory, anyone can practice becoming a leader by possessing certain traits that are inherited or. A growing body of research has been produced in the leadership field until now. Pros and cons of trait theory and great man theory posted on february 20, 2017 february 20, 2017 by edleading as we have discussed before, a good leader must have the necessary traits and attributes to be successful. The trait approach arose from the great man theory as a way of identifying the. This theory, though, is outdated and was based only on powerful men from the upper class in the 19th and 20th centuries. The limitations of the great man theory, apart from the unlikelihood of characteristics being passed through genes, is the ridiculous belief that some people become successful and great leaders based on their surrounding situations.
Strengths and limitations of the great man theory course hero. And as history would suggest, this would hold true. The great man theory however says that leaders are inherently born, not made. Feb 19, 2015 less a theory than a statement of faith, the great man theory does not fit into the rigorous scholarly theory and research that makes up the contemporary canon of leadership discourse. Great leaders can ascend when their talent is needed alliance, 2016. Traits are situational and can be interpreted differently by different people. However, tests of the great man theory which involve the performance of groups rather than the consistency of the leaders behavior are relatively absent in the literature. Leadership theories of the great man theory 1709 words 7 pages. The advantages and disadvantages of behavioral theories of. The charismatic leadership model is perhaps the most controversial in. Pros and cons of trait theory to me, the trait theory is one of those theories similar to when people thought the world was flat.
Further, behavior theory looks at the word leadership as a characteristic that one can develop. Overview of theories great man theory trait theory behavioural theories ohio state studies and michigan studies managerial grid contingency theory. Strengths and limitations of the great man theory strengths. During the 19th century, the great man theory of leadership became very popular. This theory was formulated after studying men who were already leaders. A con of great man theory is that people who are not born with the certain traits needed to be a leader will feel discouraged and feel like they will not be as. Pros and cons of trait theory the name on the front. Fiedlers least preferred coworker lpc theory cognitive resource theory situational theory. Leadership theory university of exeter business school. Although both theories seem to be valid and can be proven with examples, many instances arise where these theories are proven wrong and dont hold true.
As the behavioral sciences grew, so did the idea that leadership is more of a science that can be learned and nurtured. First, behavior theory supports the idea that leadership traits can be learned through development and experience. This theory started the scholarship of which traits and characteristics build great leaders. I believe that a leader is not born, a person thrown into leadership because his dad was a leader has a chance of not succeeding. The great man theory of leadership the future leadership. Carlyle, freud, and the great man theory more fully. Other research indicated that participative leadership, such as transformational leadership, influences and moderates followers job satisfaction and job performance, which, in turn, impact organizational commitment and survivability see, for example, alhussami, 2008. Apr 17, 2017 these theories allowed us, as a class, to understand a little more what types of leadership we are surrounded by in the workplace andor in our personal lives.
Pdf leadership and management in healthcare 2019 a. These traits you are just born with and they cant be learned. Com the great man theory of leadership the great man theory simply refers to the impact of great men or heroes, highly influential persons who, due to either their personal charisma, intelligence, wisdom, attitude or political skill utilized their power in a way that had a decisive historical impact. Early studies of leadership often focused on those who were already great leaders, such as gandhi, churchill, jesus and mohammad. The great man theory says that leadership traits are instilled in a person when they are born. The trait theory and the great man theory both talk about what traits and different types of characteristic make a leader. But later with the emergence of many great women leaders as well, the theory was recognized as the great person theory. A great leader is born and special faculties made them to improve and show the way. Advantages and barriers to transformational leadership. Evolving from the great man theories of the 19th century, the trait approach to leadership in the early 20th century argued that certain personality characteristics distinguish leaders from nonleaders bowden, 1926. Great man theory would suggest that only men could be leaders. Greenleaf, 1977 additionally, the servant leaders primary objective is to serve and meet the needs of others, which optimally should be the prime motivation for leadership. These theories often portray great leaders as heroic, mythic, and destined to rise to leadership when needed. The theory was formulated mainly by analyzing the behaviors of mainly military figures of the time.
Successful performance by one person or team, or organization is unspecified to depend on. The data to be presented, bearing on the great man theory, are based on 166 sessions of three man groups. The great man theory is one that was popular in the earlymid nineteenth century. My goal in this article is to treat the great man theory seriously and to present a fuller notion of the theory. Subsequently, many of the early leadership theories outlined in chapters 24 were developed from research conducted in male dominated contexts and have long been criticized for therefore. The great man theory, the trait theory and participative leadership the great man theory is based in main beliefs. Early leadership theories would suggest that only men can be leaders and that people who posses certain traits can be effective leaders. This leadership theory suggests that some people are born to. Hersey and blanchards situational theory houses path. Leadership characteristics are passed through the genes either you have them or you do not. Bushra, usman, and naveed 2011 and lee, cheng, yeung, and lai 2011 studied the implementation of transformational leadership within retail banks. Research shows that each of these theories has its strengths and weaknesses and there is no ideal leadership theory. This theory focuses on the traits and actions of those who are considered to be great leaders, as if they were born with those traits of leadership that leadership is a trait of those people, more than any skills that they had learned.
The article highlights some of the common approaches to leadership styles and explores the pros and cons of each. The purposes of this paper are to contrast the great man theory of leadership with the more interactive theories of leadership, and to explore my unexpected attraction to act like a gm. Aug 19, 2014 the great man theory of leadership became popular during the 19thcentury. Servant leadership styleservant leadership is one of the emerging theories of leadership and it is very different from the traditional trait, behavioural and situational theories. Specifies visionary thinking and bringing about change, instead of management. Pdf general overview to leadership theories from a critical. There is not an equal opportunity for people to develop into leaders because you either are a leader or you are not. I will compare pros and cons for both theories to show this. Feb 20, 2016 both the trait theory and the great man theory attempt to identify leaders and what makes leaders. Great man theory is an outdated theory because it claims only men can be leaders. The term great man was used because, at the time, leadership was thought of primarily as a male quality, especially in terms of military leadership. Conclusion there are many different leadership theories and each one has their pros and cons tosuccessfully leading a group. This theory ignores other factors like education, experience, the behavior of an individual to be a great leader, and suggests that these are not required to be as a leader and can only shape leadership abilities.
Strengths and limitations of the great man theory strengths of the great man theory has certain qualities like, persuasiveness, charm, demanding personality, increase amount of perception, courage, intellect, aggressiveness and be action orientated which skills that they cannot be taught or learned. Evolution of leadership theories is a comprehensive study of leadership trends over the years, and in various contexts and theoretical foundations. Pros and cons of trait theory and great man theory semester at. With that, the subordinates will have high motivation to work efficiently and produce the higher output. I would say its advantage is to let us examine the leaders as agents that. This implies that people who do not possess the right traits and attributes will never be able to become a leader. Here are the pros and cons of both great man theory and trait theory. Servant leadership as first proposed by greenleaf 1970 is a theoretical framework which stipulates that a leaders primary motivation and role is service to others. Sep 07, 2016 great man theorists found that personality traits were correlated with leadership abilities, and that great people were born with innate characteristics and qualities that distinguished them from other notso great people northouse, 2016. My main source is this article pdf warning about herbert. Instead of having corporate decisions made in a way that benefits the leadership team, servant leadership includes the entire organization. Subsequently, many of the early leadership theories outlined in chapters 24 were developed from research conducted in male dominated. The lmx theory is not entirely new graen, uhlbien 1995, but is still quite popular.
The great man theory theories of leadership began with the great man theory. Pros and cons of trait theory and great man theory. From the trait approach to leadership, not everyone is meant to lead, and leaders are a special kind of people that can do certain things as cited by psu wc lesson 2, 2016. The trait theory or great man theory offered one of the earliest conceptual ways of looking at leadership. While early theories tend to focus upon the characteristics and behaviors of successful leaders, later theories begin to consider the role of. Trait theory the next leadership theory to find followers was trait.
The trait approach theory of leadership is the view that people are born with the traits of leadership and that these traits are inherited. The definition of servant leadership as defined by its creator, robert greenleaf, is that the focus of leaders is on others rather than upon self and on understanding the role of the leader as a servant. Because this theory has been historically referred to as the great man theory of leadership, we retained this term in describing this line of research. The great man theory originated from studying behaviors of military figures and. As we have discussed before, a good leader must have the necessary traits and attributes to be successful. Less a theory than a statement of faith, the great man theory does not fit into the rigorous scholarly theory and research that makes up the contemporary canon of leadership discourse.
What are some advantages or disadvantages towards studying history. In the 1800s, authoritative positions were held solely by men and were typically passed on from father to son. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the great man. The trait theory of leadership 1503 words bartleby. One of the key problems with the great man theory of leadership is that not all people who possess the socalled natural leadership qualities actually become.
It is sometimes referred to as the great man theory of leadership. This steps away from the great man theory by arguing that leaders can be made, and are not necessarily born with innate traits. The initial hope was that the identification of such traits such as intelligence, sociality, and dependability would enhance personnel selection. Behavioral leadership theories are designed to study a leaders behavior in a controlled situation to generate marketing potential. To me personally, these theories made me realize that different leaders have different personalities and styles, which leads them to have different leading techniques. The theory is based on the builtin characteristics or traits of leadership in an individual which clears if an individual is a successful leader by birth or not. This theory considers that what is required is an understanding of what makes a great man, and then apply that knowledge to identifying and developing natural leaders who just happen to be men. Great man theory of leadership management study guide. Dec 05, 2019 here are the pros and cons to consider when implementing an environment which includes servant leadership. Hersey and blanchard s situational leadership trait theory show more content according to author, a leader is the one gifted with unique qualities that capture the imagination of the masses. Pros and cons of trait theory and great man theory semester.
This theory considers that what is required is an understanding of what makes a great man, and then apply that knowledge to identifying and developing natural leaders who just happen to be. Feb 20, 2017 the great man theory suggests that a successful leader is born, not made. A growing body of research has been pro duced in the leadership field until now. With this theory, anyone can practice becoming a leader by possessing certain traits that are inherited or learned based on the situation. The main tenet of this theory is that leaders are born, not made syque, 2006. If we look at the greatest leaders in the past, they were all men. The mythology behind some of the worlds most famous leaders, such as abraham lincoln, julius caesar, mahatma gandhi, and alexander the great, helped contribute to the notion that great leaders are born and not made. Many new theorists and even by some leaders are rejecting the great man theory.
This quote sums up the basic tenet of the great man theory of leadership, which suggests that the capacity for leadership is innate. May 06, 2019 despite spencers arguments to the contrary, the great man theory remained the popular and predominant theory for explaining and understanding leadership until the mid20 th century. In contrast to the great man theory, lmx assumes that leadership is always an interactive process between at least two people leader and follower. According to this theory, youre either a naturalborn leader or youre not. Apr 22, 2018 the great man theory of leadership ppt 1. In contrast to the great man theory, lmx assumes that leadership is always an interactive process between at. In a series of research con ducted at the university of michigan under. Pros and cons of transformational leadership 762 words. In a series of research conducted at the university of michigan unde. The major leadership theories in graphic detail florida tech online. This means that leadership theory has evolved from an emphasis on traits and behavioral styles germain, 2012. This study presents the history of dominant leadership theories and research, beginning with the great man thesis and trait theory, to the transformational and transactional leadership styles to. A pro of trait based theory is that people can work to become a leader. For example if we only look at how they changed history instead of what they did we forget a lot of it was selfish, and we.
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