Strategic Leadership Models

Great Man Theories

The basic tenant of the great man theory of leadership is that the capacity for
leadership is inborn. Nothing sums this better than the quote, Great leaders are
born, not made". This theory states that, you're either a natural born leader or
you're not.
The mythology associated with some of the world's most famous leaders such as
Abraham Lincoln, Julius Caesar, Mahatma Gandhi, and Alexander the Great has
helped contribute to the idea that great leaders are not made and rather, are born
to be great.
Many examples make it appear as if the right man for the job emerges almost
magically to take control of a situation and lead a group of people into safety or
success.

Trait Theories
Characteristics of many leaders- both successful and unsuccessful were studied to
establish the trait model of leadership. The model is used to the effectiveness of
leadership.
The identified lists of traits are then compared to those of potential leaders in order
to assess their likelihood of being successful or a failure.
Core traits identified are:

Achievement drive: High level of effort, high levels of ambition, energy and
initiative
Leadership motivation: an intense desire to lead others to reach shared goals
Honesty and integrity: trustworthy, reliable, and open
Self-confidence: Belief in ones self, ideas, and ability
Cognitive ability: Capable of exercising good judgment, strong analytical
abilities, and conceptually skilled
Knowledge of business: Knowledge of industry and other technical matters
Emotional Maturity: well adjusted, does not suffer from severe psychological
disorders
Others: charisma, creativity and flexibility

Rather than being seen as sole identifiers of whether a person will be a successful
leader or not, these traits are essentially seen as preconditions to leadership
potential

Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory

The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory was created by Dr Paul Hersey,
a professor and author of "The Situational Leader," and Ken Blanchard, author of the
best selling "The One-Minute Manager," among others.
According to this theory, successful leaders change their leadership style depending
on the maturity of the people they are leading and the demand of the task.
This theory helps leaders decide whether they should place more or less emphasis
on the task, and more or less emphasis on the relationships depending on the
people they're leading and depending on what is the requirement to get the job
done successfully

Transactional Theory
The premise behind this style of leadership is that team members agree to obey
their leader totally when they accept a job.
The "transaction" here refers to the organization paying the team members in
return for their effort and compliance. The leader has a right to "punish" team
members if their work doesn't meet the pre-determined standard.
Team members can do little to improve their job satisfaction under transactional
leadership.
Transactional leadership is really a type of management, rather than a true
leadership style. Here the focus is on short-term tasks. It hampers the knowledgebased or creative work; however it is effective in other situations.

Transformational & Laissez Faire Theory

Transformational Leadership:
According to this theory, successful leaders constantly inspire their teams with a
shared vision for the future
Laissez-Faire:
Laissez-Faire is French for the phrase "leave it be. It is used to describe leaders
who give their team members the freedom to work on their own. It is effective if the
leader monitors what's being achieved and feeds back the team regularly with his
observations. For laissez-faire leadership to be effective individual team members
must be experienced and skilled self-starters.

Leadership Styles
Autocratic Leadership
This is an extreme form of transactional leadership (this approach assumes that
work is done only because it is rewarded), where leaders have absolute power over
their workers or team.
Staff and team members have little opportunity to make suggestions, even if these
would be in the teams or the organizations best interests.
Autocratic leaders make decisions without consulting their teams. This is considered
appropriate when decisions genuinely need to be taken quickly, when there is no
need for inputs from the team, and when team agreement isnt necessary for a
successful outcome.
Most people tend to resent being treated like this therefore, autocratic leadership
often leads to high levels of absenteeism and staff turnover.

Charismatic Leadership
A charismatic leadership style can seem similar to transformational leadership
(leads to positive changes in those who follow such leaders), because these leaders
inspire lots of enthusiasm in their teams and are very energetic in driving others
forward.
However, charismatic leaders tend to believe more in themselves than in their
teams, and this creates a risk that a project, or even an entire organization, might
collapse if the leader leaves.
In the eyes of the followers, success is directly connected to the presence of the
charismatic leader.

Democratic Leadership or Participative Leadership

Although democratic leaders make the final decisions, they invite other members of
the team to contribute to the decision-making process.
This not only increases job satisfaction by involving team members, but it also helps
to develop peoples skills.
Team members feel in control of their own destiny, so they are motivated to work
hard by more than just a financial reward.

Laissez-faire Leadership
This French phrase means leave it be, and its used to describe leaders who leave
their team members to work on their own.

It can be effective if the leader monitors whats being achieved and communicates
this back to the team regularly.
Most often laissez-faire leadership is effective when individual team members are
very experienced and skilled self-starters.
Unfortunately, this type of leadership also occurs when managers dont apply
sufficient control.

Transformational Leadership
People with this style are true leaders who inspire their teams constantly with a
shared vision of the future.
While this leaders enthusiasm is often passed on to the team, he/she need to be
supported by detail people. Thats why, in many organizations, both transactional
and transformational leadership are needed.
The transactional leaders (or managers) ensure that routine work is done reliably,
while the transformational leaders look after initiatives that add new value.