Leadership Theories - Research Paper Example

The theory was made popular among the common people by Thomas Carlyle, a famous historian in the year 1840 (Forsyth, 2009). Trait Theory of Leadership Trait theory is based on certain characteristics of personality of people which depict them as a natural leader. It has been learnt in accordance with this theory that those who are good leaders will have the right blend of different leadership traits. Furthermore, the theory signifies that there are certain traits in individuals which are best suited for leadership.

It has been noted that a few of the traits that are inevitable in leaders include dependability, self- confidence, cooperativeness and influential personality among others. The trait theory was first developed by Francis Galton in the year 1869. This theory depicts that leaders have certain decisive characteristics that facilitate them to attain greater confidence and trust of followers (Manning and Curtis, 2003). Transactional Leadership Theory (Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory) Transactional leadership theory is also termed managerial leadership.

A leader with the characteristics of a transactional leader will mainly focus on the performance of the group as well as the overall organization. It has been noted that this theory primarily deals with encouraging and motivating individuals towards the accomplishment of targeted goals. In this type of leadership, the main function of the followers is to obey the instructions and orders of the leaders. This theory was proposed by Bernard Bass in the year 1981 (Bass & Bass, 2009). Furthemore, there is another section of transactional leadership theory which is called leader–member exchange theory.

According to this leadership theory, a leader of teams or any organization develops a healthy relationship with their subordinates or team members in order to ascertain maximum positive outcome from them. The theory was developed by the duo of George Graen and Fred Dansereau (Griffin & Morehead, 2009). Part B Great Man Theory of Leadership and Its Use to Influence and Reward for Team and Individuals Since this theory depicts that leaders are born with gifted characteristics, they are capable of influencing an individual or team towards a particular goal.

Moreover, a leader following this theory can also reward team members for their good work owing to his/her characteristic of honesty. For example, a leader should not be partial in praising good work of team members. Only the right person should be praised with rewards (Forsyth, 2009). Great Man Theory of Leadership and Its Use to Develop Interpersonal Skills for Building Trust Furthermore, other innate characteristics of leaders i.e. building positive relationship with members will enable them to develop interpersonal skills of the members.

Also, it has been noted that good relation will always be accompanied by trust. Thus, this will also develop trust of the members upon the leader. For instance, a leader will need to create a rapport with the team members by getting involved with their personal along with professional issues and solving them (Forsyth, 2009). Trait Theory of Leadership and Its Use to Influence and Reward for Team and Individuals These aspects of the theory will contribute towards influencing teams and individuals for accomplishment of targeted goals.

By being influential and cooperative, a leader can motivate his/her followers for ensuring the deliverance of effective