The Great Man Theory of Leadership

Have you heard the sentence saying "Was a great leader born, was not it made?" This sentence is a summary of the basic tenants of the great leadership theory which shows that leadership is innate. According to this theory, are you a natural leader or you are not.

Since the leadership was considered to be mainly male, the term "great" was used especially in military leadership.

Excellent leadership theory spread in the 19th century. The myth behind the world's most famous leaders such as Abraham Lincoln, Julius Caesar, Mahatma Gandhi, Alexander the Great, helped the great leaders to be born rather than creating ideas. In many cases, proper staff seems to magically control the situation and lead a group of people to safety or success.

Historian Thomas Carlyle also had a major influence on this leadership theory and Carlisle noted that "the history of the world is only a biography of the great people."

Some of the earliest leadership studies focus attention on successfully led people. These people usually include nobility rulers who gain their status through their innate rights. People with low social status benefit from belief that leadership is an essential ability because there are few opportunities to practice and acquire the role of leadership.

Even today, people often say excellent leaders have the right quality and personality. In other words, unique characteristics make these people effective leaders.

Sociologist Herbert Spencer believes that leaders are products of the society they live in. In "Sociology Studies", Spencer acknowledged that the origin of the great man depends on a long series of complicated effects that produced the race that he emerged and that this race is slowly growing There must be. Social state ... his society must make him a society before he reconstructs society. "

An important issue in the theory of outstanding leadership is that not all people with so-called natural leadership qualities will actually become excellent leaders. If leadership is merely a natural quality, anyone who has the necessary characteristics then will find themselves in the position of leadership. Instead, the research found that leadership is an amazingly complex topic and that many factors influence the success of a particular leader. The characteristics of the team, leaders of power, and the situation interact to determine what type of leadership is required, and the effectiveness of such leadership.

1840 's - Leadership' great mind theory 'believes that only men can become a great leader. If you do not feature a man, you will not be destined to become a leader. Your nature is fixed and you do not have the ability to deal with challenges or grow to your goals. This theory is a cultural belief system that has been popular in the past 100 years. When you create your own situation, you realize how much energy you really need to change yourself. According to the name of the psychologist, "Pygmalion effect", you are rising or contrary to the expectations of the surrounding people. So Jim Rong said, "Do not join the relaxed crowd, you will not grow, expectations and demands for going there are high."

Involved by new interest in understanding the leadership theory and leadership of great people, researchers focus on leaders - who is the leader? What is the outstanding feature of a great and effective leader? This led to early research work on characterization methods of leadership. This article was written by Prachi Juneja and reviewed by the Management Learning Guide content team. The MSG Content Team consists of experienced teachers, experts, and subject matter experts. For more information, please click "Company Profile". Use of this material is free for learning and educational purposes. Please contact the creator of the content being used, such as the link to ManagementStudyGuide.com or the URL of the content page.

Characteristic theory is a leadership theory with a long history. It began in the 19th century and is based on the leadership theory of great men. The theory from 'great men' believes that successful leaders should have certain innate features that make them different and focus on their success. Characteristic theory is derived from great theory and emphasizes the recognition and analysis of the excellent quality of leaders. This theory focuses on personality. It is an essential feature of the leader's needs. (Power 1997 quoted by McGrath in 1997)