Exploring The Various Categories Of Leadership Theory

To attain good management, one has to have good leadership. The term leadership is defined as the ability an individual has to exert their influence over a group of people while getting them inspired to achieve a set of goals. Leadership theory is applied in various aspects of life ranging from heading a small group of people to governing a nation. For this reason, there are various categories of leadership theories that have been proposed.

The first category pertaining to leadership theory is power. Power can be obtained in five different forms. Legitimate power is leadership that is attained through proper channels. This implies that the leader was next in line either in an organizational hierarchy or otherwise. Legitimate power tends to be acquired by default. The second form of power is reward power. This refers to power that is related to making the people ho are under the leader feel rewarded, either tangibly or intangibly. Tangible rewards can include pay rises or promotions. Intangible rewards may be in the form of praise. The third form of power is coercive power. This refers to power that is wielded through punishment. The people fear the leader because the leader can inflict negative situations on them. The fourth form of power is expert power. Expert power is wielded by people who have experience in their fields; this could be through education, through experience or through both. Lastly there is referent power. This is the power that the people give the leader because it is solely based on respect. To attain power. Leadership theory dictates that you have to have the mind set to achieve it. The type of power a leader decides to wield is entirely up to them.
Another category of leadership is called trait model. This states that in every leadership theory, a leader must have specific traits. The display of these traits can be either negative or positive. This all depends on the personality of the leader. But it has been proven that the majority of leaders share these common traits. Examples of the trait shared by leaders are a high tolerance of stressful situations, being energetic, having integrity, being dominating and also being quite intelligent.

Behavior model is a category of leadership theory that talks of the two type of behaviors that successful leaders' exhibit. These two behavior types are being considerate and also being initiators. Successful leaders tend to be considerate of the people that they are managing. They take into account the fact their subordinates need to be respected and trusted. They also possess initiative. Having initiative enables leaders to ensure that whatever that needs to be done is done in due time.

For leaders to effectively lead, they need to examine the leadership theory. This enables them to commit the various leadership styles to memory and in turn to their subconscious mind. This enables them to be highly efficient as they start using their mind power to become effective leaders. Whether they become good or bad leaders depends on the personality of the individual.