Organizational Behaviour - Leaders Are Born Not Made
Leaders are born and not made
This essay aims to provide a discussion about the statement “leaders are born, not made”.
According to Stogdill (1950) leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an organised group in its efforts toward goal setting and goal achievement (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2010). In any organised field there is the necessity to recognize the distinguished figure of a leader, wheter it is the animal kingdom or the human modern society. Businesses and firms (but even hospitals, politicians, schools, military, sports…) requiere a strong figure able to inspire and being a role model to follow.
In order to accomplish the purpose of the essay, it will be first introduced the Great Man theory about leaders' traits, and its relevant criticism. Secondly, it will be argued the behaviour theories of leadership exposed by the University of Michigan and the Ohio State University, followed by the contingency theory of leadership that negates both the trait and behavioural theories. Last, a conclusion will be held about to how far the assertion “leaders are born, not made” is true.
To cite Buchanan and Huczynski (2010) for the first half of twentieth century, researchers assumed that they could identify the personal traits and other attributes of leaders. It would then be possible to select individuals who possessed those markers, and to promote them to leadership positions. This search for the qualities of good leaders was influenced by the Great Man theory. According to Gordon (1999) the Great Man theory suggests that leaders have such personality, social, and physical characteristics traits. Firts introduced in the 1940s and 1950s, trait theory originally proposed that some individuals were born to be leaders. More than 100 early studies on leaders traits showed that leaders differed from non-leaders in their intelligence, initiative, persistence in dealing with problems, self-confidence, alertness to others' needs, understanding the task,
This essay aims to provide a discussion about the statement “leaders are born, not made”.
According to Stogdill (1950) leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an organised group in its efforts toward goal setting and goal achievement (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2010). In any organised field there is the necessity to recognize the distinguished figure of a leader, wheter it is the animal kingdom or the human modern society. Businesses and firms (but even hospitals, politicians, schools, military, sports…) requiere a strong figure able to inspire and being a role model to follow.
In order to accomplish the purpose of the essay, it will be first introduced the Great Man theory about leaders' traits, and its relevant criticism. Secondly, it will be argued the behaviour theories of leadership exposed by the University of Michigan and the Ohio State University, followed by the contingency theory of leadership that negates both the trait and behavioural theories. Last, a conclusion will be held about to how far the assertion “leaders are born, not made” is true.
To cite Buchanan and Huczynski (2010) for the first half of twentieth century, researchers assumed that they could identify the personal traits and other attributes of leaders. It would then be possible to select individuals who possessed those markers, and to promote them to leadership positions. This search for the qualities of good leaders was influenced by the Great Man theory. According to Gordon (1999) the Great Man theory suggests that leaders have such personality, social, and physical characteristics traits. Firts introduced in the 1940s and 1950s, trait theory originally proposed that some individuals were born to be leaders. More than 100 early studies on leaders traits showed that leaders differed from non-leaders in their intelligence, initiative, persistence in dealing with problems, self-confidence, alertness to others' needs, understanding the task,
Bibliography: Buchanan, D. A., Huczynski, A. A. (2010) Organizational Behaviour (7th edn.). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited Champoux, J. E. (2000) Organisational Behaviour: Essential Tenets for a New Millennium. Berkshire House: International Thomson Publishing Europe Ellis, S. et al. (2000) Introduction to Organizational Behaviour. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Gordon, J. R. (1999) Organizational Behaviour : a diagnostic approach. (6th edn.). Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall