Leadership
Learn to Lead
All individuals have a story of their own but what leads to success in leadership? The answer may vary but wisdom, intelligence, and creativity are leadership qualities that makes a successful leader. A successful leader synthesizes the WIC approach through compelling stories (Sternberg, 2008). Stories are social constructions of individual experiences with beginning, middle, and end (Sternberg, 2008). People view leaders through their stories; all stories covey a message that has a plot, theme, and characteristics. Find out yours, explore through this website to learn more on leadership. Enjoy!
1. Analyze the importance of leadership by comparing and contrasting past to present leadership concepts.
How do you define Leadership?
- Formulate a list of words which strike to you intially when you think of the word "Leadership". Please click the image on the right to open the "Leadership" blog and share your responses! Please keep in mind, to leave a reply users may need to be registered to a WordPress account. To help you formulate a list of words refer to the images on the left and right columns.
The Evolution of Leadership
Leadership Theories:
- Great Man Theories
- Trait Theories
- Behaviour Theories
- Contingency Theories
- Influence Theories
- Relational Theories
Era 1
1900s-1920s
-Conceptualized as pre-industrial and pre-bureaucratic
-Most organizations: small and run by single individuals
-Great Man Leadership and emphasis on personal traits of leaders
-See big picture and how everything fits into a whole
-Greatman and Trait Theory
(Shah, 2014)
Era 2
1950s-1980s
-Hierarchy and bureaucracy
-Control of workers and decision making based on precise procedures
-Rise of the “rational manager” using interpersonal approach
-Employees aren’t expected to think for themselves; focus on details rather than big picture
-Behaviour and contingency theories
(Shah, 2014)
Era 3
1980s-2000s
-Era of the team leader and change leader -Influence became important because of the need to change organizational structures and cultures
-Era sees the emergence of knowledge work, emphasis on horizontal collaboration and a shift to influence theories
-Leadership is shared among teams, shifting to the person with the most knowledge or expertise in the matter at hand
-Influence Theories
(Shah, 2014)
Era 4
2000s-present
-Digital and information age
-CHANGE
-This era represents the learning leader
-Emphasis on relationships and networks
-Influence others through vision and values rather than power and control, encouraging the growth and development of others
-Relational Theory
(Shah, 2014)
5 Faces of Leadership ...
Proposed by Kagan and Bowman (1997)
(Rees, J).
FIND OUT YOUR LEADERSHIP POTENTAIL!
Click the "Trait Theory of Leadership" image to discover the essential traits necessary for becoming a good leader.
What does leadership involve?
Social and political ecology as well as, personal traits and talents that produce leaders.
The new reality for Leadership:
Gobalization, advancing technologies, recent economic crisis, ethical scandals, and global health scares are creating new challenges for today's leaders. Our world is undergoing a transformation MORE profound and far-reaching than any experienced since the beginning of the modern age and Industrial Revolution. Rapid environmental changes are causing fundamental shifts that have a dramatic impact on organizations and present new challenges for leaders (Shah, 2014).
Moving into 21st century Leadership...
Great Leaders Build A Culture of Courage In A Climate Of Fear
"Fear is a human emotion whether in a society or a corporation, fear has the ability to spread. For that reason, today's organizations want to create a 'culture of courage' which allows employees to rise above and beyond. Margie Warrell created the “Culture of Courage” model to help leaders deepen engagement, creativity, and elevate the performance outcomes in their team and organization"
(Warrell, 2014)
-Great Man Theories: born heroes, natural abilities of influence and power, single Great Man to put everything together.
-Trait Theories: started looking at traits that leaders have in common such as intelligence and energy that set them apart from non-leaders.
-Behaviour Theories: look at what a leader DOES rather than who he or she is. Studied how effective leaders differed in their behaviour from ineffective ones. Research focused on how a leader behaved toward followers and how this correlated with leadership effectiveness or ineffectiveness.
-Contingency Theories: research started to consider the contextual and situational variables that influence what leadership behaviours will be effective. Leaders can analyze their situation and tailor their behaviour to improve leadership effectiveness. Sometimes called situational theories: characteristics of followers, characteristics of the work environment and follower tasks, and the external environment.
-Influence Theories: examine the influence process between leaders and followers. Leaders influence people to change by providing an inspiring vision of the future and shaping the culture and values to attain it.
-Relational Theories: Many ideas of leadership have focussed on the relational aspect (how leaders and followers interact and influence one another). Leadership is a process that meaningfully engages all participants and enables each person to contribute to achieving the “vision”. Interpersonal relationships, emotional intelligence.
(Shah, 2014)
Now, its time for a TEST
Please click on the icon posted above or below as "Assessment Info". Good Luck!
Margie Warrell
Click on the image for further insight on Engage, Embolden, and Inspire!
