Leadership: Concept & Theories | RBI Grade B Phase 2 Preparation - Bank Exams PDF Download

 Page 1


 107
Communication: 
meaning, Nature and 
Process
UNIT 9  LEADERSHIP: CONCEPT AND    
    THEORIES
*
Structure
9.0  Objectives
9.1  Introduction
9.2  Meaning and Definitions
9.3  Styles of Leadership
9.4  Theories of Leadership
9.5  Leadership Skills 
9.6  Conclusion 
9.7  Glossary
9.8  References
9.9  Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises
9.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this Unit, you should be able to:
• Know the meaning and definitions of leadership; 
• Explain the styles of leadership;
• Understand different theories of leadership; and
• Identify the skills of effective leadership.
9.1 INTRODUCTION
The success or failure of an organisation largely depends on its leadership. 
All organisations, big or small, simple or complex, need effective leadership. 
Unlike many other themes in the field of organisational behaviour, there are 
a number of studies and a considerable body and knowledge on leadership. 
A leader has to persuade, influence, encourage, energise and motivate people 
to achieve the objectives of an organisation. Thus, leadership is the process 
of influencing the activities of individuals or groups to achieve the goals of 
organisation. The first and the foremost task of management in every organisation 
is to provide leadership that is expected to direct, control and coordinate the 
activities of a group of persons with a view to achieving the desired goals of the 
organisation. 
An interesting addition to contemporary leadership studies is the ability of a 
leader to motivate and persuade his team members to do something which they 
do not want to do initially, but gradually, they start involving themselves with 
dedication in these activities which facilitate the achievement of organisational 
*
Contributed by Dr. Ch.C.Prasad, Assistant Director, Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad.
Page 2


 107
Communication: 
meaning, Nature and 
Process
UNIT 9  LEADERSHIP: CONCEPT AND    
    THEORIES
*
Structure
9.0  Objectives
9.1  Introduction
9.2  Meaning and Definitions
9.3  Styles of Leadership
9.4  Theories of Leadership
9.5  Leadership Skills 
9.6  Conclusion 
9.7  Glossary
9.8  References
9.9  Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises
9.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this Unit, you should be able to:
• Know the meaning and definitions of leadership; 
• Explain the styles of leadership;
• Understand different theories of leadership; and
• Identify the skills of effective leadership.
9.1 INTRODUCTION
The success or failure of an organisation largely depends on its leadership. 
All organisations, big or small, simple or complex, need effective leadership. 
Unlike many other themes in the field of organisational behaviour, there are 
a number of studies and a considerable body and knowledge on leadership. 
A leader has to persuade, influence, encourage, energise and motivate people 
to achieve the objectives of an organisation. Thus, leadership is the process 
of influencing the activities of individuals or groups to achieve the goals of 
organisation. The first and the foremost task of management in every organisation 
is to provide leadership that is expected to direct, control and coordinate the 
activities of a group of persons with a view to achieving the desired goals of the 
organisation. 
An interesting addition to contemporary leadership studies is the ability of a 
leader to motivate and persuade his team members to do something which they 
do not want to do initially, but gradually, they start involving themselves with 
dedication in these activities which facilitate the achievement of organisational 
*
Contributed by Dr. Ch.C.Prasad, Assistant Director, Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad.
 108
Organisational 
Behaviour: major 
Facets
goals. Thus, leadership skills also include the persuasive powers to convert an 
unwillingness into a willingness of the employees or followers. In this Unit we 
shall discuss conceptual aspects of leadership in an organisational context.    
9.2 mEANING AND DEFINITIONS
The dictionary meaning of leadership is to guide others, to be head of an 
organisation or to hold command. Leadership has been variously defined as an 
attribute of personality, a positional characteristic and an attitude of behaviour. 
A leader is partly a manager as he performs quite a few managerial functions. 
The distinguishing feature of leadership is its ability to persuade others to seek 
defined objectives. 
The importance of leadership lies in the fact that leaders have not only to motivate 
their followers but also arouse in them an interest to work for the realisation of 
the goals of organisation.  Further, an interesting distinction between leadership 
and management has been given by an eminent behavioural scientist, Warren 
Bennis (2010), who on the dust cover of his famous book Leaders, mentioned: 
“Leaders do the right things, managers do them right.” What Bennis implied 
was that leaders have to be visionary, good policy-makers and sound decision-
makers, while managers are expected to execute such vision, policies and 
decisions systematically and methodically.
This appears to be a convincing distinction, but we should keep in mind that 
leaders have also to perform managerial roles, while the managers have also to 
undertake leadership roles. Both the roles are not exclusive, but interrelated and 
inter-dependant. 
According to Mc Farland (1969), “Leadership is a process of interpersonal 
influence by which executive or manager influence the activities of others in 
choosing and attaining given goal”.   
“Koontz O’ Donnell (1984) observes: “Leadership means influencing people to 
follow the achievement of common goals. It is the ability to exert interpersonal 
influence by means of communication towards the achievement of goals”.
According to the Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, “Leadership is a relation 
function between individual and group around some common interest and 
behaving in a manner directed or determined by them”.
Chester James and Orlando comment: “Leadership is a social influence process 
in which the leader seeks the voluntary participation of subordinates in an effort 
to reach organisational objectives”.
Theo Haimann, observes: “Leadership can be defined as the process by which 
an executive imaginatively directs, guides and influences the work of others in 
choosing and attaining specified goals by mediating between individual and 
organisation in such a manner that both will obtain maximum satisfaction”.
According to Relph M Stogdill, “Leadership is a process of directing and 
influencing the task related activities of group members”.
Although many specific definitions (Jain & Saakshi, 2008) could be cited, most 
would be influenced by the theoretical orientation adopted. Besides influence, 
Page 3


 107
Communication: 
meaning, Nature and 
Process
UNIT 9  LEADERSHIP: CONCEPT AND    
    THEORIES
*
Structure
9.0  Objectives
9.1  Introduction
9.2  Meaning and Definitions
9.3  Styles of Leadership
9.4  Theories of Leadership
9.5  Leadership Skills 
9.6  Conclusion 
9.7  Glossary
9.8  References
9.9  Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises
9.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this Unit, you should be able to:
• Know the meaning and definitions of leadership; 
• Explain the styles of leadership;
• Understand different theories of leadership; and
• Identify the skills of effective leadership.
9.1 INTRODUCTION
The success or failure of an organisation largely depends on its leadership. 
All organisations, big or small, simple or complex, need effective leadership. 
Unlike many other themes in the field of organisational behaviour, there are 
a number of studies and a considerable body and knowledge on leadership. 
A leader has to persuade, influence, encourage, energise and motivate people 
to achieve the objectives of an organisation. Thus, leadership is the process 
of influencing the activities of individuals or groups to achieve the goals of 
organisation. The first and the foremost task of management in every organisation 
is to provide leadership that is expected to direct, control and coordinate the 
activities of a group of persons with a view to achieving the desired goals of the 
organisation. 
An interesting addition to contemporary leadership studies is the ability of a 
leader to motivate and persuade his team members to do something which they 
do not want to do initially, but gradually, they start involving themselves with 
dedication in these activities which facilitate the achievement of organisational 
*
Contributed by Dr. Ch.C.Prasad, Assistant Director, Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad.
 108
Organisational 
Behaviour: major 
Facets
goals. Thus, leadership skills also include the persuasive powers to convert an 
unwillingness into a willingness of the employees or followers. In this Unit we 
shall discuss conceptual aspects of leadership in an organisational context.    
9.2 mEANING AND DEFINITIONS
The dictionary meaning of leadership is to guide others, to be head of an 
organisation or to hold command. Leadership has been variously defined as an 
attribute of personality, a positional characteristic and an attitude of behaviour. 
A leader is partly a manager as he performs quite a few managerial functions. 
The distinguishing feature of leadership is its ability to persuade others to seek 
defined objectives. 
The importance of leadership lies in the fact that leaders have not only to motivate 
their followers but also arouse in them an interest to work for the realisation of 
the goals of organisation.  Further, an interesting distinction between leadership 
and management has been given by an eminent behavioural scientist, Warren 
Bennis (2010), who on the dust cover of his famous book Leaders, mentioned: 
“Leaders do the right things, managers do them right.” What Bennis implied 
was that leaders have to be visionary, good policy-makers and sound decision-
makers, while managers are expected to execute such vision, policies and 
decisions systematically and methodically.
This appears to be a convincing distinction, but we should keep in mind that 
leaders have also to perform managerial roles, while the managers have also to 
undertake leadership roles. Both the roles are not exclusive, but interrelated and 
inter-dependant. 
According to Mc Farland (1969), “Leadership is a process of interpersonal 
influence by which executive or manager influence the activities of others in 
choosing and attaining given goal”.   
“Koontz O’ Donnell (1984) observes: “Leadership means influencing people to 
follow the achievement of common goals. It is the ability to exert interpersonal 
influence by means of communication towards the achievement of goals”.
According to the Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, “Leadership is a relation 
function between individual and group around some common interest and 
behaving in a manner directed or determined by them”.
Chester James and Orlando comment: “Leadership is a social influence process 
in which the leader seeks the voluntary participation of subordinates in an effort 
to reach organisational objectives”.
Theo Haimann, observes: “Leadership can be defined as the process by which 
an executive imaginatively directs, guides and influences the work of others in 
choosing and attaining specified goals by mediating between individual and 
organisation in such a manner that both will obtain maximum satisfaction”.
According to Relph M Stogdill, “Leadership is a process of directing and 
influencing the task related activities of group members”.
Although many specific definitions (Jain & Saakshi, 2008) could be cited, most 
would be influenced by the theoretical orientation adopted. Besides influence, 
 109
Leadership:  Concept 
and Theories
leadership can be defined in terms of group processes, personality, compliance, 
particular behaviours, persuasion, power, goal achievement, interaction, role-
differentiation, initiation of structure and combination of two or more of these.  
9.3  STYLES OF LEADERSHIP
The style an executive selects greatly influences his effectiveness as a leader. 
Leadership style influences the motivation of subordinates in the achievement 
of organisational goals. Leaders adopt different styles at different points of 
times depending on the situation. Inappropriate styles may cause irreparable 
damage as the employees may feel dissatisfied and resentful. Broadly, three 
leadership styles are identified viz. autocratic, participative and laissez faire. 
Each of the styles has both advantages and disadvantages. We shall now briefly 
discuss each of these styles:    
Autocratic Style 
In this style, authority is concentrated in the hands of the leader. It is the leader 
who decides policies and modifies them according to his own wishes. This 
type of leader expects unquestioned acceptance of his or her leadership by 
the subordinates. It is very difficult to anticipate the behaviour of autocratic 
leaders. Such a leader tends to be private and remains aloof from the group. He 
considers himself superior and all his colleagues as inferior, inexperienced and 
ignorant. This type of leadership has the advantage of quick decision- making, 
but it causes pain to the employees and results in dissatisfaction. 
Participative Style 
This style is also called ‘democratic’ style of leadership. In this style, leaders 
obtain the cooperation of employees in achieving organisational goals. They 
allow the employees to participate in the decision-making process. All policies 
and decisions are arrived at through group deliberations The leader encourages 
and assists his colleagues and only suggests alternatives instead of dictating 
the final decisions or policies. The members of the group enjoy considerable 
freedom. Participative style leads to improved employee-employer relations, 
higher morale and greater job satisfaction. It also reduces the burden on the 
leader. Major problems in this style are dilution of quality and more time 
consumed in the formulation of policies and decisions. The consultative process 
naturally becomes time-consuming.
Laissez-faire Style 
In this type of leadership, the organisation does not depend on the leader to 
provide external motivation. The employees motivate themselves. They enjoy 
greater freedom and leader’s participation in decision-making is minimal. The 
leader only assumes the role of one of the members of the organisation. This 
style of leadership has an advantage of giving freedom and independence to 
employees. The basic problem in this style is an absence of strong leader to 
direct and control the teams. Employees generally miss guidance and motivation 
in such a style of leadership.
Page 4


 107
Communication: 
meaning, Nature and 
Process
UNIT 9  LEADERSHIP: CONCEPT AND    
    THEORIES
*
Structure
9.0  Objectives
9.1  Introduction
9.2  Meaning and Definitions
9.3  Styles of Leadership
9.4  Theories of Leadership
9.5  Leadership Skills 
9.6  Conclusion 
9.7  Glossary
9.8  References
9.9  Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises
9.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this Unit, you should be able to:
• Know the meaning and definitions of leadership; 
• Explain the styles of leadership;
• Understand different theories of leadership; and
• Identify the skills of effective leadership.
9.1 INTRODUCTION
The success or failure of an organisation largely depends on its leadership. 
All organisations, big or small, simple or complex, need effective leadership. 
Unlike many other themes in the field of organisational behaviour, there are 
a number of studies and a considerable body and knowledge on leadership. 
A leader has to persuade, influence, encourage, energise and motivate people 
to achieve the objectives of an organisation. Thus, leadership is the process 
of influencing the activities of individuals or groups to achieve the goals of 
organisation. The first and the foremost task of management in every organisation 
is to provide leadership that is expected to direct, control and coordinate the 
activities of a group of persons with a view to achieving the desired goals of the 
organisation. 
An interesting addition to contemporary leadership studies is the ability of a 
leader to motivate and persuade his team members to do something which they 
do not want to do initially, but gradually, they start involving themselves with 
dedication in these activities which facilitate the achievement of organisational 
*
Contributed by Dr. Ch.C.Prasad, Assistant Director, Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad.
 108
Organisational 
Behaviour: major 
Facets
goals. Thus, leadership skills also include the persuasive powers to convert an 
unwillingness into a willingness of the employees or followers. In this Unit we 
shall discuss conceptual aspects of leadership in an organisational context.    
9.2 mEANING AND DEFINITIONS
The dictionary meaning of leadership is to guide others, to be head of an 
organisation or to hold command. Leadership has been variously defined as an 
attribute of personality, a positional characteristic and an attitude of behaviour. 
A leader is partly a manager as he performs quite a few managerial functions. 
The distinguishing feature of leadership is its ability to persuade others to seek 
defined objectives. 
The importance of leadership lies in the fact that leaders have not only to motivate 
their followers but also arouse in them an interest to work for the realisation of 
the goals of organisation.  Further, an interesting distinction between leadership 
and management has been given by an eminent behavioural scientist, Warren 
Bennis (2010), who on the dust cover of his famous book Leaders, mentioned: 
“Leaders do the right things, managers do them right.” What Bennis implied 
was that leaders have to be visionary, good policy-makers and sound decision-
makers, while managers are expected to execute such vision, policies and 
decisions systematically and methodically.
This appears to be a convincing distinction, but we should keep in mind that 
leaders have also to perform managerial roles, while the managers have also to 
undertake leadership roles. Both the roles are not exclusive, but interrelated and 
inter-dependant. 
According to Mc Farland (1969), “Leadership is a process of interpersonal 
influence by which executive or manager influence the activities of others in 
choosing and attaining given goal”.   
“Koontz O’ Donnell (1984) observes: “Leadership means influencing people to 
follow the achievement of common goals. It is the ability to exert interpersonal 
influence by means of communication towards the achievement of goals”.
According to the Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, “Leadership is a relation 
function between individual and group around some common interest and 
behaving in a manner directed or determined by them”.
Chester James and Orlando comment: “Leadership is a social influence process 
in which the leader seeks the voluntary participation of subordinates in an effort 
to reach organisational objectives”.
Theo Haimann, observes: “Leadership can be defined as the process by which 
an executive imaginatively directs, guides and influences the work of others in 
choosing and attaining specified goals by mediating between individual and 
organisation in such a manner that both will obtain maximum satisfaction”.
According to Relph M Stogdill, “Leadership is a process of directing and 
influencing the task related activities of group members”.
Although many specific definitions (Jain & Saakshi, 2008) could be cited, most 
would be influenced by the theoretical orientation adopted. Besides influence, 
 109
Leadership:  Concept 
and Theories
leadership can be defined in terms of group processes, personality, compliance, 
particular behaviours, persuasion, power, goal achievement, interaction, role-
differentiation, initiation of structure and combination of two or more of these.  
9.3  STYLES OF LEADERSHIP
The style an executive selects greatly influences his effectiveness as a leader. 
Leadership style influences the motivation of subordinates in the achievement 
of organisational goals. Leaders adopt different styles at different points of 
times depending on the situation. Inappropriate styles may cause irreparable 
damage as the employees may feel dissatisfied and resentful. Broadly, three 
leadership styles are identified viz. autocratic, participative and laissez faire. 
Each of the styles has both advantages and disadvantages. We shall now briefly 
discuss each of these styles:    
Autocratic Style 
In this style, authority is concentrated in the hands of the leader. It is the leader 
who decides policies and modifies them according to his own wishes. This 
type of leader expects unquestioned acceptance of his or her leadership by 
the subordinates. It is very difficult to anticipate the behaviour of autocratic 
leaders. Such a leader tends to be private and remains aloof from the group. He 
considers himself superior and all his colleagues as inferior, inexperienced and 
ignorant. This type of leadership has the advantage of quick decision- making, 
but it causes pain to the employees and results in dissatisfaction. 
Participative Style 
This style is also called ‘democratic’ style of leadership. In this style, leaders 
obtain the cooperation of employees in achieving organisational goals. They 
allow the employees to participate in the decision-making process. All policies 
and decisions are arrived at through group deliberations The leader encourages 
and assists his colleagues and only suggests alternatives instead of dictating 
the final decisions or policies. The members of the group enjoy considerable 
freedom. Participative style leads to improved employee-employer relations, 
higher morale and greater job satisfaction. It also reduces the burden on the 
leader. Major problems in this style are dilution of quality and more time 
consumed in the formulation of policies and decisions. The consultative process 
naturally becomes time-consuming.
Laissez-faire Style 
In this type of leadership, the organisation does not depend on the leader to 
provide external motivation. The employees motivate themselves. They enjoy 
greater freedom and leader’s participation in decision-making is minimal. The 
leader only assumes the role of one of the members of the organisation. This 
style of leadership has an advantage of giving freedom and independence to 
employees. The basic problem in this style is an absence of strong leader to 
direct and control the teams. Employees generally miss guidance and motivation 
in such a style of leadership.
 110
Organisational 
Behaviour: major 
Facets
Check Your Progress 1
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answers.
  ii) Check your answers with those given at the end of the Unit.
1. Explain about meaning and definitions of leadership.
 ......………………….……………………………………………………..
 ......………………….……………………………………………………..
 ......………………….……………………………………………………..
 ......………………….……………………………………………………..
2. State different types of leadership.
 ......………………….……………………………………………………..
 ......………………….……………………………………………………..
 ......………………….……………………………………………………..
 ......………………….……………………………………………………..
9.4 THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP
Leadership has several distinct theoretical bases. At first, leaders were seen as 
either ‘born’ or ‘made’. The ‘great person’ theory implied that individuals were 
born with certain traits. Dissatisfied with this approach, researchers shifted their 
emphasis on the group leadership. In the group approach, leadership is viewed 
more in terms of the leader’s behaviour and his relationship with his followers. 
Later, the situation began to receive increased attention in leadership theory. 
Now a leader is viewed as a product of the times and the situations. The person 
with particular qualities or traits that a situation requires will emerge as a leader. 
The following sections examine different theories of leadership:  
Trait Theory
This theoretical approach is related to characteristics or traits that are required 
for a person to become as leader. This theory is known as “great man” theory 
assuming that leaders are born with certain special necessary traits for leadership. 
Ordway Tead and Chester I.Barnard are prominent trait theorists. Ordway 
Tead has brought out ten qualities of a leaders viz. 1) Physical and nervous 
energy 2) A sense of purpose and direction  3) Enthusiasm  4) Friendliness 
and affection 5) Integrity 6) Technical mastery 7) Decisiveness 8) Intelligence 
9) Teaching skill and 10) Faith. Chester I.Barnard indicates two categories of 
leadership traits. The first category includes outstanding qualities in respect of 
physique, skill, technology, perception, knowledge, memory and imagination. 
These qualities are expected to command the subordinates’ admiration. The 
second category includes the individual merits of determination, persistence, 
endurance and courage.
Researchers do not welcome trait theory due to its low analytical value. But 
still the theory is alive with changed focus. Now the emphasis has shifted from 
Page 5


 107
Communication: 
meaning, Nature and 
Process
UNIT 9  LEADERSHIP: CONCEPT AND    
    THEORIES
*
Structure
9.0  Objectives
9.1  Introduction
9.2  Meaning and Definitions
9.3  Styles of Leadership
9.4  Theories of Leadership
9.5  Leadership Skills 
9.6  Conclusion 
9.7  Glossary
9.8  References
9.9  Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises
9.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this Unit, you should be able to:
• Know the meaning and definitions of leadership; 
• Explain the styles of leadership;
• Understand different theories of leadership; and
• Identify the skills of effective leadership.
9.1 INTRODUCTION
The success or failure of an organisation largely depends on its leadership. 
All organisations, big or small, simple or complex, need effective leadership. 
Unlike many other themes in the field of organisational behaviour, there are 
a number of studies and a considerable body and knowledge on leadership. 
A leader has to persuade, influence, encourage, energise and motivate people 
to achieve the objectives of an organisation. Thus, leadership is the process 
of influencing the activities of individuals or groups to achieve the goals of 
organisation. The first and the foremost task of management in every organisation 
is to provide leadership that is expected to direct, control and coordinate the 
activities of a group of persons with a view to achieving the desired goals of the 
organisation. 
An interesting addition to contemporary leadership studies is the ability of a 
leader to motivate and persuade his team members to do something which they 
do not want to do initially, but gradually, they start involving themselves with 
dedication in these activities which facilitate the achievement of organisational 
*
Contributed by Dr. Ch.C.Prasad, Assistant Director, Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad.
 108
Organisational 
Behaviour: major 
Facets
goals. Thus, leadership skills also include the persuasive powers to convert an 
unwillingness into a willingness of the employees or followers. In this Unit we 
shall discuss conceptual aspects of leadership in an organisational context.    
9.2 mEANING AND DEFINITIONS
The dictionary meaning of leadership is to guide others, to be head of an 
organisation or to hold command. Leadership has been variously defined as an 
attribute of personality, a positional characteristic and an attitude of behaviour. 
A leader is partly a manager as he performs quite a few managerial functions. 
The distinguishing feature of leadership is its ability to persuade others to seek 
defined objectives. 
The importance of leadership lies in the fact that leaders have not only to motivate 
their followers but also arouse in them an interest to work for the realisation of 
the goals of organisation.  Further, an interesting distinction between leadership 
and management has been given by an eminent behavioural scientist, Warren 
Bennis (2010), who on the dust cover of his famous book Leaders, mentioned: 
“Leaders do the right things, managers do them right.” What Bennis implied 
was that leaders have to be visionary, good policy-makers and sound decision-
makers, while managers are expected to execute such vision, policies and 
decisions systematically and methodically.
This appears to be a convincing distinction, but we should keep in mind that 
leaders have also to perform managerial roles, while the managers have also to 
undertake leadership roles. Both the roles are not exclusive, but interrelated and 
inter-dependant. 
According to Mc Farland (1969), “Leadership is a process of interpersonal 
influence by which executive or manager influence the activities of others in 
choosing and attaining given goal”.   
“Koontz O’ Donnell (1984) observes: “Leadership means influencing people to 
follow the achievement of common goals. It is the ability to exert interpersonal 
influence by means of communication towards the achievement of goals”.
According to the Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, “Leadership is a relation 
function between individual and group around some common interest and 
behaving in a manner directed or determined by them”.
Chester James and Orlando comment: “Leadership is a social influence process 
in which the leader seeks the voluntary participation of subordinates in an effort 
to reach organisational objectives”.
Theo Haimann, observes: “Leadership can be defined as the process by which 
an executive imaginatively directs, guides and influences the work of others in 
choosing and attaining specified goals by mediating between individual and 
organisation in such a manner that both will obtain maximum satisfaction”.
According to Relph M Stogdill, “Leadership is a process of directing and 
influencing the task related activities of group members”.
Although many specific definitions (Jain & Saakshi, 2008) could be cited, most 
would be influenced by the theoretical orientation adopted. Besides influence, 
 109
Leadership:  Concept 
and Theories
leadership can be defined in terms of group processes, personality, compliance, 
particular behaviours, persuasion, power, goal achievement, interaction, role-
differentiation, initiation of structure and combination of two or more of these.  
9.3  STYLES OF LEADERSHIP
The style an executive selects greatly influences his effectiveness as a leader. 
Leadership style influences the motivation of subordinates in the achievement 
of organisational goals. Leaders adopt different styles at different points of 
times depending on the situation. Inappropriate styles may cause irreparable 
damage as the employees may feel dissatisfied and resentful. Broadly, three 
leadership styles are identified viz. autocratic, participative and laissez faire. 
Each of the styles has both advantages and disadvantages. We shall now briefly 
discuss each of these styles:    
Autocratic Style 
In this style, authority is concentrated in the hands of the leader. It is the leader 
who decides policies and modifies them according to his own wishes. This 
type of leader expects unquestioned acceptance of his or her leadership by 
the subordinates. It is very difficult to anticipate the behaviour of autocratic 
leaders. Such a leader tends to be private and remains aloof from the group. He 
considers himself superior and all his colleagues as inferior, inexperienced and 
ignorant. This type of leadership has the advantage of quick decision- making, 
but it causes pain to the employees and results in dissatisfaction. 
Participative Style 
This style is also called ‘democratic’ style of leadership. In this style, leaders 
obtain the cooperation of employees in achieving organisational goals. They 
allow the employees to participate in the decision-making process. All policies 
and decisions are arrived at through group deliberations The leader encourages 
and assists his colleagues and only suggests alternatives instead of dictating 
the final decisions or policies. The members of the group enjoy considerable 
freedom. Participative style leads to improved employee-employer relations, 
higher morale and greater job satisfaction. It also reduces the burden on the 
leader. Major problems in this style are dilution of quality and more time 
consumed in the formulation of policies and decisions. The consultative process 
naturally becomes time-consuming.
Laissez-faire Style 
In this type of leadership, the organisation does not depend on the leader to 
provide external motivation. The employees motivate themselves. They enjoy 
greater freedom and leader’s participation in decision-making is minimal. The 
leader only assumes the role of one of the members of the organisation. This 
style of leadership has an advantage of giving freedom and independence to 
employees. The basic problem in this style is an absence of strong leader to 
direct and control the teams. Employees generally miss guidance and motivation 
in such a style of leadership.
 110
Organisational 
Behaviour: major 
Facets
Check Your Progress 1
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answers.
  ii) Check your answers with those given at the end of the Unit.
1. Explain about meaning and definitions of leadership.
 ......………………….……………………………………………………..
 ......………………….……………………………………………………..
 ......………………….……………………………………………………..
 ......………………….……………………………………………………..
2. State different types of leadership.
 ......………………….……………………………………………………..
 ......………………….……………………………………………………..
 ......………………….……………………………………………………..
 ......………………….……………………………………………………..
9.4 THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP
Leadership has several distinct theoretical bases. At first, leaders were seen as 
either ‘born’ or ‘made’. The ‘great person’ theory implied that individuals were 
born with certain traits. Dissatisfied with this approach, researchers shifted their 
emphasis on the group leadership. In the group approach, leadership is viewed 
more in terms of the leader’s behaviour and his relationship with his followers. 
Later, the situation began to receive increased attention in leadership theory. 
Now a leader is viewed as a product of the times and the situations. The person 
with particular qualities or traits that a situation requires will emerge as a leader. 
The following sections examine different theories of leadership:  
Trait Theory
This theoretical approach is related to characteristics or traits that are required 
for a person to become as leader. This theory is known as “great man” theory 
assuming that leaders are born with certain special necessary traits for leadership. 
Ordway Tead and Chester I.Barnard are prominent trait theorists. Ordway 
Tead has brought out ten qualities of a leaders viz. 1) Physical and nervous 
energy 2) A sense of purpose and direction  3) Enthusiasm  4) Friendliness 
and affection 5) Integrity 6) Technical mastery 7) Decisiveness 8) Intelligence 
9) Teaching skill and 10) Faith. Chester I.Barnard indicates two categories of 
leadership traits. The first category includes outstanding qualities in respect of 
physique, skill, technology, perception, knowledge, memory and imagination. 
These qualities are expected to command the subordinates’ admiration. The 
second category includes the individual merits of determination, persistence, 
endurance and courage.
Researchers do not welcome trait theory due to its low analytical value. But 
still the theory is alive with changed focus. Now the emphasis has shifted from 
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Leadership:  Concept 
and Theories
personality traits to job related skills, such as technical, professional, conceptual 
and human skills needed for effective management.   
Group and Exchange Theory
This theory has roots in social psychology. It assumes that there must be a 
positive and harmonious relationship between the leaders and followers to 
accomplish group goals. Chester Barnard was key proponent of this theory. 
According to this theory, leadership is an exchange process between the leader 
and followers. This theory strongly believes that the leader and his followers 
affect and influence each other.
Contingency Theory
The lacunas in the trait theory have led to the formulation of this theory. The 
theory stresses the significance of situational variables that affect leadership 
roles, skills, behaviour and followers’ performance and satisfaction. Fred 
Fiedler proposed a widely recognised situation-based or contingency theory 
for leadership effectiveness. This model contains the relationship between 
leadership style and the favourableness of the situation. 
Fiedler was convinced that the favourableness of the situation in combination 
with the leadership style determines leadership effectiveness. In simple terms, 
this theory proposes that people become leaders not only because of the 
attributes of their personalities but also because of various situational factors 
and interaction between leaders and situations. This means that there is nothing 
automatic or good in leadership styles; leadership effectiveness depends upon 
various factors.
Path Goal Theory
This theory of leadership was developed by Robert House. It describes the most 
effective leaders as those who help subordinates achieve both the enterprise 
goals as well as their personal goals.  Personal goals of subordinates includes 
money, promotion, opportunity of growth and development. Leaders of this 
theory remove obstacles to performance, increase opportunities for personal 
satisfaction in work performance by reducing unnecessary stress and strain. 
In addition to the above traditional leadership theories, a number of modern 
theories have emerged in recent years. The following section provides an 
overview of these theories. 
Charismatic Theory
This theory is also attributed to the work of Robert House.  He suggests that 
charismatic leaders are characterised by self-confidence and trust in subordinates, 
high expectation for subordinates, ideological vision and the use of personal 
example. Followers of the charismatic leaders identify with the leader and the 
mission of the leader, exhibit extreme loyalty to and confidence in the leader, 
emulate leader’s values and behaviour, and derive self-esteem from their 
relationship with the leader. Charismatic leaders have superior oratorial and 
persuasive skills and technical expertise, and foster attitudinal, behavioural, and 
emotional changes among their followers.