The Great Man Theroy
The Great Man Theory
This term paper explains the leadership style of “The Great Man Theory”, by Thomas Carlyle, a historian of nineteenth century. The idea of the theory is leader and leadership. The basic idea of the theory is that leaders are born and not made.
Thomas Carlyle, a historian in nineteenth century presented his ideas on leadership, named “The Great Man Theory.” Carlyle focused on the influence great men had on historical events. Like great people such as Mohammad, Shakespeare, and Napoleon among others (Goleman).
The basic theme of The Great Man Theory is that “Leaders are born and not made” (Bass). Research done in the nineteenth and early part of twentieth century on the leadership primarily focused on the people who were already great and established leaders. These people were mostly from the aristocratic class, very few people in the lower classes had the opportunity to lead. This is the reason why the belief that leadership is generally related with aristocracy or upper class (Bass).
The idea presented in the great man theory also comes from the myth that a great man would magically rise. This theory did not focus on gender because in the great man theory most of the leaders at that time were male and they believed that a woman as a leader was not an accepted idea (Goleman).
The great man theory talks about the influence of great men in history. The main reason for the impact of great men on the history, is due to personal traits of the leaders such as wisdom, passion, charisma, competence, and trust. The great man theory has received a lot of attention ever since presented by Carlyle. Such a great amount of attention is focused on history or events of history that are related and written about great men. The significance of the great man theory is also due to the relationship of performance with the personalities in top position (Kayworth.) Most of the research made in the psychological area, with reference to the great
This term paper explains the leadership style of “The Great Man Theory”, by Thomas Carlyle, a historian of nineteenth century. The idea of the theory is leader and leadership. The basic idea of the theory is that leaders are born and not made.
Thomas Carlyle, a historian in nineteenth century presented his ideas on leadership, named “The Great Man Theory.” Carlyle focused on the influence great men had on historical events. Like great people such as Mohammad, Shakespeare, and Napoleon among others (Goleman).
The basic theme of The Great Man Theory is that “Leaders are born and not made” (Bass). Research done in the nineteenth and early part of twentieth century on the leadership primarily focused on the people who were already great and established leaders. These people were mostly from the aristocratic class, very few people in the lower classes had the opportunity to lead. This is the reason why the belief that leadership is generally related with aristocracy or upper class (Bass).
The idea presented in the great man theory also comes from the myth that a great man would magically rise. This theory did not focus on gender because in the great man theory most of the leaders at that time were male and they believed that a woman as a leader was not an accepted idea (Goleman).
The great man theory talks about the influence of great men in history. The main reason for the impact of great men on the history, is due to personal traits of the leaders such as wisdom, passion, charisma, competence, and trust. The great man theory has received a lot of attention ever since presented by Carlyle. Such a great amount of attention is focused on history or events of history that are related and written about great men. The significance of the great man theory is also due to the relationship of performance with the personalities in top position (Kayworth.) Most of the research made in the psychological area, with reference to the great
Bibliography: Bass, Bernard. “Bass & Stodgill’s Handbook of Leadership.” 3rd Ed. New York. The Free Press 1990 Goleman, Daniel. “Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence”. Boston Harvard University Press. 2002 Kayworth, Turner. “Leadership effectiveness in global project teams.” Journal of Management Mowery, Delisle. “Inward technology transfer and competitiveness: The role of national innovation systems” Journal of Economics 19(1): 67. 2003 Zaleznik, Abraham. "Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?" Harvard Business Review, March-April 1992, p: 126.