A brief study on the development of Leadership during

the 20th century and the Formation of different

Leadership Theories

I. Introduction

While the leadership has been a very fascinating topic since the age of man
have been dated . Its evolution and development have been recorded to
progressively develop to its highest peak during the later centuries. Centuries
where globalization and rapid change in technological advancement had also
taken place . Leadership and management studies emerged in the 20 th and 21st
century

During this period breakthroughs and theories have been formulated and
emerged . Some of which includes behavioral, industrial and psychological
studies that explains specific elements present in the situations as to what
leadership occurs. The traits of effective leaders to follower centered
relationship studies were also proposed on the later. Among the proprietors of
these theoretical discoveries much credit was taken to the two of the most
accredited people who introduced published works that tackles the
development of leadership during the period. These two persons were Dr. Gary
Yukl and Dr. peter Northouse with their respective publications. Through these
important works each man has contributed greatly to understanding of
leadership behaviors within organizations.

II. Body
This part of the study explains and presents the different leadership theories
and ideologies emerged during the said era, these theories are only some yet
seen as most of the influential theories that contributed to the metamorphosis
of the leadership styles as of the present time.
Various personas and their theories and ideas on the scope of leadership

Frederick Winslow Taylor’s Scientific Management

Frederick Winslow Taylor, an American Mechanical engineer who sought to

improve industrial efficiency. He was one of the first management consultants.
He was one of the remarkable leaders of efficiency movement and his ideas
were labeled as highly influential during the Progressive Era.

In the early 20th century, he proposed the practice of scientific management.

Though this has not been a theory on leadership , yet it greatly changes the
way leaders interacted with the employees and the handling of production.
Through his own experience and informal educations , (Ecoggins,2016) Taylor
Recognized that employers could get the most out of their workers if they broke
labor projects in their various parts and trained laborers to specialized in each
specific task of production. This type of management maximizes the potential
of each laborer on the field they exert the highest efficiency offering quality
production and performance resulting to ore progressive environment. Taylor
stated the classic statement of that “ Leaders were born not made and that
there’s only one form of leadership . This Scientific Management was a very
effective and logical making it very much efficient and influential up until now
but as other theories emerge the belief of Taylor about the one form of
leadership have been somewhat revoked.

Great Man and Trait theory

Early part of 20th century had welcomed leadership studies that merely focuses
on what has been referred to as the Great Man theory of leadership proposes
(Stodgill,1974) that only men are born to lead and when crises arise these men
step up to take their natural place. Despite its misogynistic ideals it had been
accepted by the crowd . Also , relating to that theory, Trait theory proposes that
only men with the in-born characteristics for leadership will be successful
leaders . The search for the right combination of traits according to him will
lead them for the perfect formula for a successful leader that will lead to
effective leading of Organizations.

They have arrived with the list containing the 1o best traits through 2 meta
analytical studies on the year 1948 and 1974. Therefore, giving them said
following traits:

1. Drive for responsibilities and task completions

2. Vigor and persistence in pursuit of Goals
3. Adventureness and authenticity in problem solving
4. Initiative in social situations
5. Self-confidence and self-personal identity
6. Willingness to accept consequences of decisions and actions
7. Readiness to absorb interpersonal stress
8. Willingness to tolerate frustrations and delay
9. Ability to influence others behavior
10. Capacity construct social interaction

Charismatic authority

Max Weber, a German sociologist, was the first to propose and describe
Charismatic authority (the precursor to charismatic leadership theory) in his
work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Weber described
Charismatic leadership as "a special personality characteristic that gives a
person…exceptional powers that result in the person being treated as a leader.”
House (1976) published a theory of charismatic leadership within which he
described the personal characteristics of this type of leader as “being dominant,
having a strong desire to influence others, being self-confident, and having a
strong sense of one’s own moral values” (Northouse, 2004).
Contingency Theory of Leadership

The 'Taylorists' believed there was one best style of leadership and that that
style fit all situations. Fred Fiedler in various works came to believe that best
leadership style was the one that best fit a given situation. Accordingly, Fiedler
proposed the Contingency Theory of Leadership and the Least Preferred
Coworker Scale to establish whether a manager-supervisor was a good match
for his leadership assignment.

Leader-Member Exchange Theory

Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX) has been discussed extensively by

several organizational behavioral scientists including Dansereau, Graen, and
Haga, 1975; Graen & Cashman, 1975; and Graen, 1976. LMX is based on
social exchange theory and focuses the quality of relationships and interactions
between leaders and followers. Organizational scholars showed that leaders
develop separate exchange relationships with each subordinate as each party
mutually defines the subordinate’s role. According to Graen & Uhl-Bien as
highlighted by Gary Yukl, higher quality exchanges between supervisors Ans
subordinates result in:

 less turnover
 more positive performance evaluations
 higher frequency of promotions
 greater organizational commitment
 more desirable work assignments
 better job attitudes
 more attention & support from the leader
 greater participation
  faster career progress

Situational Leadership

Situational leadership theory was proposed by Dr. Paul Hersey and Dr. Ken
Blanchard. By their conceptualization, leaders choose the leadership style
based on the maturity or developmental level of the follower. Their theory
yielded a four-quadrant configuration based on the relevant amounts of
directive and or supportive needed to motivate a given employee to fulfill a
given task. The four quadrants are labeled according to the corresponding
leadership style related to each of the four sections of the model.

1. Directing is aimed at the least mature employee or member whereby the

leader uses only directive words and no supportive behaviors to motivate the
employees.

2. Coaching whereby leader-supervisors use both high directive and high

supportive words and behaviors in their interaction with employees.

3. Supporting whereby leader-supervisors refrain from directive behaviors and

concentrate on supportive behaviors only. These employees work well on their
own but lack self-confidence or may be overwhelmed with a new task.

4. Delegating whereby leader-supervisors no longer need to offer directives or

supportive words and behaviors. These employees have matured to the place
where they are competent and confident in the task and do not need anyone to
look over their shoulders.
Transformational Leadership

Transformational Leadership has been the most widely researched form of

leadership from the 1980s to 2011. Transformational leadership was first
described by James McGregor Burns and then expounded upon by Bernard
Bass. Burns wrote of this form of leadership in his important 1978
work Leadership in which he contrasts the characteristics of transformational
leadership with transactional leadership.
Transformational leadership refers to the process whereby an individual
engages with others and creates a connection that raises the level of motivation
and morality in both the leader and the followers. Bass explained that
transformational leadership was centered in the followers and motivates
followers to do more than was expected by (1)raising followers' level of
consciousness about the importance of organizational values and goals. Also,
(2)getting followers to transcend their own self-interest for the sake of the team
or organization.

Authentic Leadership

Authentic leadership is one of the newest proposed leadership styles. In

Academic circles, it was first coined by Dr. Bruce Avolio and Fred Luthans. In
2008, Walumbwa, Avolio and others devised the Authentic Leadership
Questionnaire. In that publication, they reworked the definition of the
leadership concept:
Authentic Leadership a pattern of leader behavior that draws upon and
promotes both positive psychological capacities and a positive ethical climate,
to foster great self-awareness, an internalized moral perspective, balanced
processing of information, and relational transparency on part of leaders
working with followers, fostering self-development.
From this definition, Avolio and his colleagues gleaned four aspects of
Authentic Leadership including:
  Self-awareness
 Relational transparency
 Balanced processing
 Internalized moral perspective
Implicit Leadership Theories

Implicit leadership theories are informal theories about leadership that reside
within the thoughts of each individual. They are pet theories we devise based
on our respective beliefs and assumptions about the characteristics of effective
leadership.

Hanges, Braverman, et al (1991) observed that individuals have implicit beliefs,

convictions, and assumptions concerning attributes and behaviors that help
that individual distinguish between leaders and followers, effective leaders from
ineffective leaders, moral leaders from evil leaders

Participative Leadership Theory

Participative Leadership has been proposed and highlighted by several scholars

including Dr. Rensis Likert (1967) and Gary Yukl (1971). Likert is best known
for the Likert Scale, a measurement devise used to measure degrees of
acceptance of a given premise. His theory of leadership styles included the
following.
Likert Leadership Styles
1. Exploitative authoritative - by which the leader shows little if any concern
for his followers or their concerns, communicates in a demeaning, accusatory
fashion, and makes all decisions without consultation with the subordinates.
2. Benevolent authoritative - is concerned with the employees and rewards
for quality performance but makes all decisions alone.
3. Consultative - makes genuine effort to listen to the subordinates' ideas, but
decisions are still centralized in the leader.
4. Participative - shows great concern for employees, listens carefully to their
ideas, and includes them in the decision-making process.
Participative Leadership
Yukl described a similar participative leadership style but used different labels.
1. Autocratic - makes all decisions alone without concern for or consultation
with followers
2. Consultation - leader asks for opinions and ideas from subordinates but
makes decisions alone.
3. Joint Decision - leader asks for ideas from subordinates and includes them
in the making the decision.
4. Delegation - manager-supervisor gives a group or individual the authority to
make decisions.

Servant Leadership

Robert Greenleaf (1970 and 1977) published a set of essays proposing a new
type of leadership focused on the follower. That leadership type is servant
leadership. Greenleaf's ideas on this new type of leadership did not truly catch
on however until the mid-1990s when Larry Spears dissected Greenleaf's ideas.
Spears gleaned from Greenleaf's writings 10 proposed characteristics of servant
leaders:

 Listening
 Empathy
 Healing
 Awareness
 Persuasion
 Conceptualization
 Foresight
  Stewardship
 Commitment to the growth of the people
 Building community

Since Spears delineated these characteristics in 1995, a host of leadership

researchers postulated conceptual models of servant leadership. More impetus
for discovering and promoting more ethical forms of leadership was given in the
aftermath of repeated ethical failures within large brand name organizations
within the US in the first decade of the 21st century.

III. Conclusion
Robert J. House and company and Gary Yukl explained that implicit theories
are developed and refined over time as a result of (1)actual experience
(2)exposure to literature (books and other publications) (3)other social-
cultural influences
Moreover, they explain that these pet theories are influenced by individual
beliefs, values, and personality traits , shared beliefs & values about leaders
in organizational culture and national or local culture. Thus, giving us the
leadership styles performed by different leaders of diverse skin, belief ,
tradition, culture , perspective and stand. As it was redundant at it seems, as
we humans and the idea of a Community develops and changes in perpetuity,
there emerges and disappears, variations and effective initiation of leadership
enables a more productive environment and a healthy manpower is an asset
on one’s economy. The developments that have occurred focuses on both the
welfare of the leaders and especially the people which the main goal of
improving the community. Improving this along the change in the time
benefits the greater good thus making it an essential topic to tackle.
Finally, these implicit theories act to constrain ,moderate, guide the exercise
of leadership.
References:
https://www.verywellmind.com/leadership-theories-2795323
https://www.verywellmind.com/leadership-theories-2795323
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/10-common-
leadership-styles
https://toughnickel.com/business/Leadership-Theories-Three-Types-of-
Contingency-and-Situational-Theorieshttps://toughnickel.com/business/What-is-
the-Situational-Leadership-Theory
https://toughnickel.com/business/Formal-vs-Informal-Leaders

BORNEA, RICHARD CHRISTOPHER C.

BSBA MM 1-4

CWTS