Question

How do leadership theory/theories influenced the behaviour of people and operations in an organisation?

Answer 1

Leadership theories evolved as the society and organisations progressed. Great man theory emphasised on the leadership of men ignoring women in the picture. Trait theory tried to explain that only people with certain character traits will make a good leader. Behavioural leadership either task oriented or people oriented tried to explain a different perspectives of the leaders. Contingency theories on the other hand suggests that leadership is situational. Transactional leadership focuses on the give and take policy of leader and the followers where the leader applies rewards and punishments to keep the followers on track. Transformational leaders transform the followers by empathetically listening and motivating the followers.

These theories helped the organisations to identify people with the right attitude and character to put them in leadership roles. Earlier people were treated as if they were objects in the company. As new perspectives came into the society, the perspectives of leaders in the organisations started changing. It changed from a boss-worker relationship to colleague mind-set later. Today leaders in the organisations mingle easily with the employees and discuss things openly. They treat them as the stakeholders of the organisation. All the benefits, career opportunities and humanistic approach that treat people with respect, empathy and trust.