Yesterday, I read Feldman's book on social psychology. He listed four theories on leadership.
The great person theory is “the notion that certain people are born to lead others.” He says that these people typically are slightly more intelligent, extroverted and dominant, slightly better adjusted, more confident, and have higher needs for power.
Next is of transformational leaders. These folks “spur their followers into behavior that surpasses their own personal interests.” They motivate, have charisma and produce trust and respect, they are inspiring and intellectually stimulating, and concerned in the welfare of others.
Next is the situational approach to leadership. This is “the notion that people become leaders due to the characteristics of the situation in which they find themselves.” Here it is the recognition that “the greater the ability of a person to communicate with others in a group or organization, the more likely that person is to become the leader of the gorup.
The last approach to leadership is an interactional approach to leadership. The specific model that is best received in the community is the contingency model.
The model suggests three situational aspects of effective leadership. Leader-member relationships range between positive or negative. The degree of task structure attempting to be accomplished is toward clear and unambiguous (highly structured), or vague and ambiguous (low structured). The last characteristic is the power the leader holds over the group members. In regard to rewards (and punishments), the leader is thought either to be strong or weak.
Feldman mentions leader personality, but he says what is more important is the leader's style of motivating. The leader is leans either toward accomplishing tasks or maintaining positive group relationships. To measure the leader’s style one looks at the least preferred member (LPM) of the group (most difficult to work with). If a leader looks at that member harshly they are considered low LPM leaders. If a leader looks at that member in a positive light they are high LPM leaders.
(Continued)
1 comment:
Many folks get leadership roles because they are vocal. Yet, when a crisis occurs they are overshadowed by the actions of those who normally don't "make waves". These reluctant Leaders often make the best leaders. They are able to think on the level of the "common people" and therefore they are able to communicate with them easily. It may be lazy but, I find that most true Leaders are happier to follow when things are going well and only come to bloom in the rough times.Regards, Bill
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