History and Theories of

Leadership ll

Olujide A. Adekeye
Department of Psychology
 Objectives:
At the end of this lecture, students
should be able to:

• Differentiate between Models and Theories

• Identify and Explain three theories of
leadership
Leadership is a complex and diverse field
of knowledge, and trying to make sense
of leadership research can become an
intimidating endeavor.
• A leader is one who knows the way and goes
the way

• Leadership is not about a title or a designation

• The supreme quality for leadership is

unquestionably integrity
 Foundation of Leadership - TRUST
As leaders, we should build trust and not destroy
it.
The 5 most important trust-building behaviours are:
Be open and honest –
Be credible -
Be humble -
Be competent -
Be generous -

Trust is like money. It is hard to earn and easy to lose

Question
Why are some leaders
successful, while others
fail?

Theories of Leadership
 Theories of Leadership
Plato believed only a select few with superior
wisdom should be leaders

Aristotle contended "From the moment of their

birth, some persons are marked for subjugation
and others for command.“
Machiavelli felt that those princes who
had the cunning and the ability to
organize power and knowledge in the
defense of the state should be followed
Some Leadership Theories

1. "Great Man" 5. Contingency

2. Trait 6. Situational
3. Behavioural 7. Participative
4. Relationship 8. Management

Among Others
Trait Leadership
• Leadership is a function of biology –– you
are born with it
• Leadership is developing what you are born
with
• Leadership is building on your strengths
 Trait theory
• Trait theory is based and derived from Great
Man Theory
• It attempts a more systematic itemization of
personality, intellectual ‘traits’ and skills that
a ‘leader’ is made of, such as
• Decisiveness, maturity, self-assurance, power
over others, ability to listen to others,
fairness, emotional intelligence
GREAT LEADERS
Great Man Theory
 Great Man Theory

Famous leaders such as Alexander the

Great, Queen Elizabeth 1 and Abraham
Lincoln seem to differ from ordinary
people in several respects.
This line of thought and
observation(s) led early researchers
to formulate the

Great Person Theory of Leadership

Great Men
Alexander the Great. How about him Abraham Lincoln. How about him
 Great Person Theory

This theory holds the view that

great leaders possess certain traits
that set them apart from most
human beings, traits that are
possessed by all such leaders no
matter when or where they lived
Individuals are born either
with or without the
necessary traits for
leadership.
Behavioural Theory of Leadership
Behavioural theories focus on how leaders behave. For
instance:

do leaders dictate what needs to be

done and expect cooperation?
Or
do they involve their teams in decision-
making to encourage acceptance and
support?
 Behavioural Theories
The thrust of this theory is that Leadership
capability can be learned.

Example: B. F. Skinner, J.B. Watson

Behaviours can be Learned, Unlearn and

Relearn
 Behavioural Theories
Assumptions

Leaders can be made, rather than are

born

Successful leadership is based on

definable, learnable behaviour
Description

Behavioural theories do not

seek inborn traits, they look at
what leaders actually do.
 Behavioural Theories
Behavioural theories of leadership are based
upon the belief that great leaders are made, not
born.

This leadership theory focuses on the actions of

leaders, not on mental qualities or internal states.

According to this theory, people can learn to

become leaders through teaching and observation
VIDEOS
As leaders, we should be careful of
SINGLE Stories
Chimamanda Adichie
Fred Swaniker

As young aspiring leaders, we should learn from

mistakes of the past to become better LEADERS
 Contingency / Situational Theories
What about the environment? Doesn’t that play a role in
influencing leadership behaviour?

You have to consider the conditions that are friendly to

leadership. Context is everything.

Primary focus is on the belief that there is not one “best”

style, but a good choice given a situation.
 Situational Leadership Theory
The situational leadership theory is a model for leadership
developed by Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard.

Situational leadership theory talks about four different

leadership styles and how it relates to subordinate’s
confidence or ability to carry out a task.
 
 These leadership styles are:
 

Telling

Selling

Participating

Delegating
Telling
The first leadership style is what they call telling.
It is best used when subordinates either lack the
ability or lack the maturity to handle a task well.

This is when the leader needs

to direct the subordinates with
specific instructions and
expectations.
Selling
The next leadership style is called selling. Instead of
telling them exactly what to do, the leader sells them
the idea and gives them some level of independence
and autonomy to perform
the task.
 Participating Style
Here, the leader talks to everyone about his ideas and
hears the opinion of everyone.

There is more shared responsibility

in this style because the final
decision on a task would be made
collectively.
 Delegating Style
Finally the delegating style is when the leader fully
delegates a task to a subordinate without specific
instructions.

He tells the subordinates about

What needs to be achieved and
he trusts the subordinate to find
out how to achieve it.
McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y (1960)

X Because employees dislike work, they must be

coerced, controlled, or threatened with punishment
to achieve desired goals.

Y The average person can learn to accept, even seek,

responsibility.
Y The ability to make good decisions
is widely dispersed throughout the
population and is not necessarily the
sole province of leaders/managers
References
James M. Kouzes, Barry Z. Posner (2007). The
Leadership Challenge, 4th Edition, Jossey‐Bass

Fleenor, J. W. (2007). Trait Approach to Leadership.

Encyclopedia of Industrial and Organizational
Psychology. SAFE Publications