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10 Leadership Theories

TRAIT THEORY

These are traits according to Swansburg (1993):

1. Intelligence traits . Judgment,decisiveness, knowledge, and fluency of speech are intelligence traits that a

nurse manager is perceived to possess.

2. Personality traits . Adaptability,alertness, creativity, cooperativeness,personal integrity, self-confidence,emotional balance and control and

independence (nonconformity).

3. Ability traits. Ability to enlistcooperation, popularity and prestige,sociability (interpersonal skills), socialparticipation, tact, and diplomacy fallunder ability traits of a leader.

BEHAVIORAL THEORY

The behavioral theory of leadershipunderscores the significance of understanding human behavior.

A nurse manager must understandhuman beings as the behavior of peopleis at the core of leadership and

management in nursing.

SERVANT THEORY

Postulated by Robert Greenleaf

Servant Leadership is a recent theory of leadership that argues that the mosteffective leaders are servants of their

people.

Servant leaders get results for theirorganization through whole-hearted

attention to their followers and

followers needs.

The leader should be a servant first,leading from a desire to better serve

others and not to attain more power.

Larry Spears, outlined tencharacteristics of servant leaders byanalyzing the writings of Greenleaf.

These ten characteristics are listening,empathy, healing, awareness,

persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment tothe growth of others, and building

community.

MOTIVATIONAL THEORY

Physiological needs - the base of needssystem. These needs are based onhomeostasis.

Safety needs are the second group inthe hierarchy. Among these aresecurity, protection, dependency, andstability; freedom from anxiety, chaos,and fear; need for order, limits,structure, and law; strength in theprotector, and others. Their satisfaction

influences a persons philosophy of lifeand of values.

The need for self-actualization - Theeffort of people to be what they can be.Nurses want to become everything that

they are capable of becoming, toachieve their potential, to be effectivenurses, to be creative, and to meet

personal standards of performance.

SITUATIONAL THEORY

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McGregor (1966) explicitly stated thatresearch finding to date suggest that itis more fruitful to consider leadershipas a relationship between the leader and the situation than as a universal

pattern of characteristics possessed bycertain people.

This approach based its main point fromthe popular terms expressed by Uris(1953) as he advised the would-be

leaders in the following manner. Theskill with which you apply the threebasic tools of leadership autocratic,democratic, and free- rein techniques

determines your personal success as aleader.

INTERACTIONAL THEORY

Interactional theory signifies aninteraction between the person andsituation. It maintains that in simple

reflex types of behavior the stimulusacts on the organism and elicits theresponse, and the organism plays noactive part in the selection or interpretation of behavior.

CHARISMATIC THEORY

Charm and grace are all that is neededto create followers.

Self-belief is a fundamental need of leaders.

People follow others that theypersonally admire.

The Charismatic Leader gathersfollowers through dint of personalityand charm, rather than any form of

external power or authority.

Conger & Kanungo (1998) describe fivebehavioral attributes of CharismaticLeaders:

1. Vision and articulation;

2. Sensitivity to the environment;

3. Sensitivity to member needs;

4. Personal risk taking;

5. Performing unconventional behavior.

TRANSFORMATIONAL THEORY

Transformational leadership is a type of

leadership style that leads to positivechanges in those who follow.

Transformational leaders are generallyenergetic, enthusiastic and passionate.

The concept of transformationalleadership was initially introduced byleadership expert and presidential

biographer James MacGregor Burns.

According to Burns, transformationalleadership can be seen when "leadersand followers make each other toadvance to a higher level of moral andmotivation."

Through the strength of their vision andpersonality, transformational leadersare able to inspire followers to changeexpectations, perceptions and

motivations to work towards commongoals

Bass also suggested that there werefour different components of

transformational leadership:

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1. Intellectual Stimulation Transformational leaders not onlychallenge the status quo; they also

encourage creativity among followers.

2. Individualized Consideration Transformational leadership alsoinvolves offering support and

encouragement to individual followers.

3. Inspirational Motivation Transformationalleaders have a clear vision that they are able toarticulate to followers.

4. Idealized Influence The transformationalleader serves as a role model for followers.

TRANSACTIONAL THEORY

Transactional leadership, also known asmanagerial leadership, focuses on therole of supervision, organization andgroup performance. This theory of leadership was first described in bysociologist Max Weber, and furtherexplored by Bernard M. Bass in the

early 1980s.

Basic Assumptions of Transactional

Leadership:

People perform their best when thechain of command is definite and clear.

Workers are motivated by rewards andpunishments.

Obeying the instructions andcommands of the leader is the primarygoal of the followers.

Subordinates need to be carefullymonitored to ensure that expectations

are met.

CONTINGENCY THEORY

Contingency theorists believeorganizational performance can beenhanced by matching an

organizations structure to itsenvironment.

The environment is defined as thepeople, objects, and ideas outside the

organization that influence the

organization.

The environment of a health careorganization includes patients andpotential patients; third party payers,

including Medicare and managed-carecompanies; regulators; competitors;and suppliers of physical facilities,personnel (such as schools of nursingand medicine), equipment, andpharmaceuticals

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