Year

Theorist

Theory

Tenens

19th Century

Thomas Carlyle

Great Man Theory

This school of thought espouses that great leaders are born, not made. These individuals come into the world possessing certain characteristics and traits not found in all people. These abilities enable them to lead while shaping the very pages of history. Under this theory leaders throughout the course of history were born to lead and deserved to do so as a result of their natural abilities and talents (villanovau.com).

1974

Ralph M. Stogdill

Trait Theory

People are born with inherited traits. Some traits are particularly suited to leadership. People who make good leaders have the right combination of traits (Straker, 2015).

1960

Douglas McGregor

Theory X

Management has little trust or confidence in workers. Communication flows down, not up. Workers prefer to be closely supervised. Subordinates have little say regarding their jobs and do not participate in problem solving. In order to meet goals, managers use threats and coercion to gain compliance. Subordinates do not participate in or feel responsible for organizational success. Without precise supervision, employees will underperform (Noland, 2014).

1960

Douglas McGregor

Theory Y

Workers are self-motivated and require little supervision. Workers will direct themselves in they are committed to the organization and the job is satisfying. Workers possess the ability for problem solving and creative thinking. Workers seek responsibility and want to be challenged. Workers feel rewarded from their accomplishments and doing a good job. Workers are motivated by recognition and acknowledgement (Noland, 2014).

1982

Paul Hersey
Ken Blanchard

Situational Theory

Leaders should use a different leadership style, depending on the situation. This model encourages the leader/manager to analyze the needs of the situation, and then use the most appropriate leadership style. Depending on employee competence in their task area and commitment to tasks, the leadership style should vary from person to person (12manage.com)

1957

Chris Argyris

Maturity / Immaturity Theory

A persons’ development is process along a continuous break of an immaturity situation to maturity situation. A mature person is characterized for being active, independent, self-confident and self-controlled. An immature person is passive, dependent, has lack of confidence and feels need of control by others (modelsofmaturintyblog.wordpress.com).

1965

Abraham Maslow

Theory of Eupsychian Management

Importance of managers supporting their subordinates and contributing positively to their self – esteem. Emphasizes a need for self-actualization so that everyone would have the opportunity to become what he or she had the capacity to become (Landis, Hill & Harvey (2014).

1920s

Margaret Mead
Talcott Parson
Robert K. Merton

Role Theory

People define roles for themselves and others based on social learning and reading. People form expectations about the role that they and others will play. People subtly encourage others to act within the role expectations the have for them. People will act within the roles they adopt (Straker, 2015).

1958

Fred Fiedler

Contingency Theory

The success of the leader is a function of various factors in the form of subordinate, task, and/or group variables. The effectiveness of a given pattern of leader behavior is contingent upon the demands imposed by the situation. This approach departs from trait and behavioral models by asserting that group performance is contingent on the leader’s psychological orientation and on three contextual variables: group atmosphere, task structure, and leader’s power position. This theory explains that group performance is a result of interaction of two factors; leadership style and situational favorableness. In this model leadership effectiveness is the result of interaction between the style of the leader and the characteristics of the environment in which the leader works (12manage.com)

1977

W.E. Scott

Behavioral Theory

Identified the need to replace the conception that leadership is due to influence of persuasion with analysis of the observable behavior of leaders that change the behavior of followers (Landis, Hill & Harvey, 2014).

1969
1978

Kenneth Burke
Barbara Sharf

Communication Theory

Based upon the use of rhetoric in small groups in regards to the emergence of a leader. Sharf created a rhetorical framework derived from a theory developed by Burke. Burke sought to reveal the importance of leaders attaining cooperation from members in the group, to analyze the success of leaders in small groups. Sharf concluded that the analyses revealed how important it was for the leader to go beyond the symbolic divisions in an evolving leader (Landis, Hill & Harvey, 2014).

1958

Fritz Heider

Attribution Theory

Attributions are the result of the fundamental cognitive processes by which people ascertain cause and effect so that they can solve problems and become more efficacious in their interactions with their environments (Martinko, Harvey & Douglas, 2007). This theory posits that every leader and follower have his or her own implicit theory of leadership (Landis, Hill & Harvey, 2014).

1981

William Ouchi

Theory Z

The value of the company is the people. Everyone who will be affected by a decision is involved in making the decision –
consensus decision making (Inman Review, 2016).

1957

Frederick Herzberg

Two – Factor Theory

People are influenced by two factors – hygiene factors and motivation factors. Satisfaction and psychological growth are a result factor of motivation factors and dissatisfaction is a result of hygiene factors. Hygiene factors are needed to ensure that an employee does not become dissatisfied. they do not cause higher level of motivation, but without them there is dissatisfaction. Motivation factors are needed in order to motivate an employee into higher performance. These factors result from internal generators in employees (12manage.com).

1977

Robert K. Greenleaf

Servant Leadership Theory

Emphasizes the good of followers over the self-interest of the leader by valuing and developing people, practicing authenticity in leadership, building community, providing leadership for the good of followers, and sharing status and power for the common good of followers, the organization as a whole, and person served by the organization (Washington, Sutton & Sauser, 2014).

1978

James McGregor Burns

Transformational Leadership Theory

Builds commitment to organizational objectives and empowers followers to accomplish objectives by making followers aware of the importance of task outcomes, orienting followers toward performance beyond established organizational standards, activating high-orders intrinsic needs, and focusing on follower empowerment instead of dependence (Washington, Sutton & Sauser, 2014).

1978

James McGregor Burns

Transactional Leadership Theory

An exchange process in which the leader recognizes followers’ needs and then define appropriate exchange processes to meet both the needs of the followers and leaders’ expectations. This theory relies on hierarchical authority, task completion, and rewards and punishment (Washington, Sutton & Sauser, 2014).

1975

Fred Dansereau
George Graen
William Haga

Leader – Member Exchange Theory

Describes how leaders in groups maintain their position through a series of tacit exchange agreements with their members. These relationships follow three stages very soon after a person joins the group. Role taking – the member joins the team and leader assesses their abilities and talents, the leader may offer them opportunities to demonstrate their capabilities. Role making – the leader and member take part in an unstructured and informal negotiation whereby a role is created for the member and the often-tacit of benefit and power in return for dedication and loyalty takes place. Routinization – a pattern of ongoing social exchange between the leader and the member becomes established (Straker, 2015).

1976

Robert House

Charismatic Leadership Theory

A belief that some people act in certain ways that would lead others to attribute special or extraordinary abilities to them. One of these ways is through having certain personalities characteristics, like being dominant, aspiring to influence others, having confidence, and possessing a strong moral compass. Charismatic leaders engage in certain behaviors, the have strong vision, are risk takers, and are sensitive to the needs of their followers and are strong role models for the values they espouse (Gentry, 2017).